The Book
by XxNekoQueenxX
Summary: Hitomi and Kaminari fight to learn the truth about Kaminari's past and experience love, death, and incredible power along the way. This fan fiction is more or less solely about Shikamaru and Gaara and is dedicated to my best friend who inspires the role of Kaminari. This is a book, it may not be the best but it is long, it's definitely no short story.


Chapter 1

Hitomi woke up yawning and stretching her arms. Her long silver hair fell around her shoulders, messy as it typically was in the mornings. Mornings when she was able to sleep in were the best. As she lay her head back down on her soft pillow she realized something. She wasn't supposed to be sleeping in today! Today they were giving squads out, and…she looked at the clock. She jumped out of bed instantly, her purple eyes widening, she was already late!

"Kami! Kami wake up! We're late!" Hitomi yelled shaking her.

"Just five more minutes." Kami said rolling over, her mid length black hair flopping into her face and covering her red eyes.

"Kami they're giving squads today get up!" Hitomi said pushing Kami off the bed before running into the bathroom to get dressed.

Kami jumped out of bed and instead of running to get dressed or fix her ratted hair she proceeded to make her way to the kitchen where she took her time eating breakfast. As Hitomi left the bathroom dressed and ready to go in her typical red dress and black leggings underneath with her headband wrapped around her knew, enough extra fabric to call it a scarf, she ran down to the kitchen to grab something quick, like an apple to eat where she found Kami still eating her food in her pajamas.

"Kami! Get going! We have like five minutes!" Hitomi yelled ready to clobber Kami.

Kami, taken off guard, fell off her chair and onto the floor. She looked up to see Hitomi glaring at her with fire raging in her eyes. Hitomi had never seen Kami make her way upstairs that fast before. As Hitomi calmed down and looked at the clock she realized she had barely enough time to make it to class if she left now, much less if she waited on Kami. Quickly she slipped her slightly heeled boots that came to her knees on and her black gloves that came to her elbows. She sighed but knew Kami would make her way to class eventually even if she was late so Hitomi dashed out towards class making it there just barely before Iruka settled the shinobi.

"Alright, alright, quiet down. Don't you want to hear your squads?" Iruka asked picking up a clipboard. "Squad number one" he began once the class quieted.

Hitomi looked next to her seeing the empty desk where her best friend should be, but glanced behind her when someone nudged her.

"I didn't think you would make it on time. Where is Kami?" Rayne another close friend of Hitomi and Kami's asked. She had long blonde hair and blue eyes, her clothes were once again pretty basic, a purple top with a hood and long baggy sleeves and purple shorts to match. Her shoes came to her knees but her toes poked out the front.

"We slept in a bit, and well she is running a bit late." Hitomi said chuckling a little.

Rayne had moved to the hidden leaf village when she was just a baby with her family. They used to live in the Hidden Cloud but wanted a new setting when her parents had their first child, her. They said the hidden cloud seemed too gloomy and they wanted a bright and sunny village to raise their daughter so they left their family and moved here where they have lived for thirteen years raising Rayne.

Hitomi had been living in the hidden leaf village all her life and when she was just a toddler, about four years old, the village found a child in the woods. The child was lost and confused so Hitomi's parents took her in and raised her alongside Hitomi. That child was Kami and to this day no one knows where she came from.

"I'm here." Kami whispered sneaking her way to her seat, she was wearing her typical red and blue dress, similar to Hitomi's however she had no leggings on underneath. "Did he announce my group yet?"

"No, not yet. Pay attention." Hitomi said focusing on Iruka sensei.

"Alright. The next squad will consist of…"he trailed off. Kami or Hitomi had to be soon. Most the students had already been placed in groups. "Kaminari Nambake…" Kami sat up listening intently just praying someone good was in her squad, she hoped for Hitomi. "Hitomi Natsuki…" Iruka said glancing at the two of them realizing Kami had just got there. The two girls gasped in excitement, what were the chances! "And finally Shikamaru Nara." At the last name their hearts sank.

"Not…not him." Hitomi and Kami said simultaneously looking over at Shikamaru, his pineapple shaped hair really just annoyed the both of them.

"Aw man what a total drag." Shikamaru said placing his head on his hands.

"The final group will consist of Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, and Rayne Temerow. Do not make me regret putting any of these groups together." Iruka said glaring over at Kami and Hitomi. "You will all meet your Sensei tomorrow. Do not be late. Now get to know your teammates. Dismissed."

"We really have to be in a squad with Shikamaru? He's so lazy." Kami complained.

"He's lazy?" Hitomi said glaring at Kami. "He's no worse than you! How am I supposed to work with the two of you?"

Kami began to speak, but Hitomi ignored her overhearing a conversation Shikamaru was having with Naruto. They were talking about heading over to the practice academy for a few hours. After all it was going to be about the last time they would get to spent away from their squads.

"Hitomi are you listening to me?" Kami asked.

As Hitomi looked back at her she saw Rayne leaning over her desk trying to figure out what was running through Hitomi's head. "Oh, no sorry. I was planning a way to annoy our new team member." She said.

"Oh? What's the plan?" Kami asked intrigued.

"Yeah, I want in on it!" Rayne exclaimed as well climbing over her desk to sit closer to Hitomi.

"Well, I heard him talking about heading over to the practice academy to waste some time. Really it's the perfect place to hide; no one would ever look there, however. Wouldn't it be the best practical joke is we just showed up there and embarrassed them?" Hitomi said grinning.

"Shikamaru Nara!" Hitomi growled walking into the practice academy.

She chuckled as she saw him cringe at her tone of voice. This wasn't the first time Shikamaru had been forced to deal with Hitomi. They lived next door to one another and from her bedroom window she was able to see into his bedroom window. So often times she would tease him and pick on him. When he would sleep she loved to yell out her window to wake him up, by this time he had learned that by hearing her voice meant absolutely nothing good would come to him.

"Ooh Kiba." Rayne said walking in with Hinata. "Don't you think it's best to spend some time getting to know each other a bit better? We don't want anyone to start arguments in our squad. We seem to have enough of that." Rayne said smiling down at him as her ninja dog Ozame walked in behind her.

"Oh right of course." Kiba said jumping up excited to be in a group with Rayne. No one else understood the bond between him and Akamaru; aside from their bondage through animals he wouldn't deny she was beautiful. Her long flowing blond hair, nothing else even mattered. Quickly he made his way up to his two teammates and the three of them left.

"Kiba is already wrapped around her finger and she doesn't even know it." Neji said.

"Right, Shika why don't you come along as well?" Hitomi teased.

"Don't call me that!" he yelled at her. Hitomi glared down at him and he cringed away standing up just to get her to stop that look. Kami stood by silently watching but she couldn't help but let out a laugh at the look on Shikamaru's face.

"Oh, wait. Did I say Kiba? I meant Shikamaru." Neji corrected himself.

"What?! What did you say Neji!" Shikamaru yelled.

"Come on Shikamaru you wouldn't want everyone to find out what kind of underwear you wear at night." Hitomi teased.

He glared at her blushing when all his friends looked at him. "Ugh, this whole thing is a waste of time. I could be cloud watching right now. Being a cloud would make things so much easier." He thought to himself

"She knows what kind of underwear you sleep in? You let a girl see you in underwear?" Naruto asked failing miserably at holding back a grin.

"Oh let's see the other night I believe they were pink with little unicorns on them, or maybe they were rainbow with ponies." Hitomi teased looking down at Shikamaru as his entire face turned beat red.

"Alright I'm coming!" He yelled as everyone burst out laughing. Rolling his eyes he quickly made his way up the stairs to meet them. "This is such a drag." Hitomi grinned merrily as Kami, Shikamaru and she left the building. "I wish I could say I can't believe you said that, but that would be dumb of me, after all I know you well enough to expect such things."

"But you don't expect them do you? I still catch you off guard." Hitomi said looking back at him as he drug his feet following them.

Hitomi lead the way to a nice soft patch of grass away from town. Shikamaru followed silently looking up at the sky as they walked, he knew it was going to be one long year as they trained before he could even think of becoming a Chunin and not having to deal with her and Kami. He could barely handle Hitomi on her own, much less the brute of the two of them, Kami. They worked together on everything, Hitomi the mastermind of it all and Kami the one who pulled it all together.

"Alright." Hitomi said plopping down in the grass.

"This is where we're hanging out?" Kami asked. "I figured we would go somewhere Shikamaru wouldn't like."

"Well I can't torture him forever; after all we are going to be in the same squad. I figured the least I could do was allow us to discuss things here." Hitomi replied looking over at Shikamaru. "Wha-?" she said realizing he was already asleep.

"Shikamaru!" Kami yelled thumping him on the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Shikamaru asked sitting up and rubbing his head.

"For falling asleep like an idiot!" Kami yelled.

"Oh yeah, like an idiot huh? Who was late for class today?!" Shika argued.

"Well, at least I care about getting to know our squad!" Kami screamed back

"Getting to know it! You live with half of it! You can't possibly tell me you care about getting to know me!" Shika continued.

Kami had fire burning in her eyes and she and Shika were going head to head in this argument, literally they were screaming right in each other's faces.

"Enough!" Hitomi finally said.

"This argument is a waste of time…What exactly are we going to be discussing anyway?" Shika asked laying back down again.

"Well, I thought maybe we could try and discuss how we will work together, our different attack styles and such. We are going to be a team now and we can't be getting in each other's way all the time." Hitomi explained

"Well." Kami said. "We all know I like to pound people in the face!" she said laughing as she punched the air.

"Right, Kami you're a close range fighter but I have seen you use that earth style jutsu too. Me, I can fight close range but I'm faster so my attacks aren't as powerful, my main attack involves my gravity control jutsu. I'm still working on it though; it's not a normal type of jutsu." Hitomi said using her powers to force Shikamaru to sit up.

"Well everyone knows about my shadow jutsu. That's my specialty. Right Hitomi? You know what I mean." He teased crossing his arms sending her memories back to a time when he used it to take advantage of her.

She had just been yelling at him to wake up from his daily nap; however he wasn't responding as quickly as usual. She fell silent and leaned out her window to look for him when suddenly she couldn't move, her body felt so heavy, she fell out the window and landed in the small alley between their houses. By falling she attracted the attention of civilians passing by and they stopped to see if she was alright, only she wasn't. She still didn't have control of her body and suddenly she started dancing around like a crazed monkey. What she didn't realize at that moment was she was being controlled by Shikamaru's shadow jutsu and unfortunately for her no one else realized that either. She was forced to dance in the alley while people watched her and laughed for a good few minutes before Shikamaru tired of having his fun and released her.

"Oh Yeah I remember." Hitomi said glaring at him. "Surely you remember why you have never done that since?"

Shikamaru thought back this time remembering that the second he released her she practically flew up to his window moving too fast for him to stop her. Meeting him off guard she tackled him and practically beat him into the next week.

"You two argue way too much." Kami said.

"We argue too much?" Hitomi said "Did you forget five minutes ago already?"

"Come on you guys I want to do some training!" Kami said ignoring her.

That night when Hitomi went to bed she glanced out her window to see Shikamaru, of course he never wore pink unicorn underwear, but what was the harm in saying he did? She just laughed when he finally realized she was watching. She had never seen him be so motivated to do something as simple as closing the blinds on his window.

The next day Hitomi yawned as she woke, as per usual. Today she remembered that she would meet her sensei. Kami still slept in her bed snoring ever so quietly. She slid out of bed and looked out her window to see…Shikamaru actually awake, but he was just sitting there in his bed. Of course, Shikamaru didn't want to move. He was awake but that didn't mean he wanted to be active.

"When did he open his blinds?" she thought aloud. She just laughed and opened her window, using her gravitational abilities to open his as well. "Shikamaru!" she yelled and she could almost see the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "You better get up Shika! We meet our Sensei today."

She just laughed as she watched him drop down onto his bed. Thirteen years he had dealt with this and now he was going to have to spend every single day with her. She proceeded to wake Kami as she did every day; she wasn't going to wake up on time all on her own after all.

"So who do you think our Sensei is going to be?" Kami asked as they sat down for breakfast.

"Hmmm…" Hitomi thought taking a few bites. "I definitely wouldn't complain if we had Kakashi."

"Oh, Kakashi would be awesome. He's so badass and mysterious wearing that mask and his headband like that all the time." Kami added.

"I guess we will just have to wait and see. It would definitely be funny if it was another girl, Shikamaru left to deal with three women all on his own? That's something I can't wait to see." Hitomi said chuckling. "We better get ready to go. We don't want to keep out Sensei waiting after all." She continued slipping her boots on and tying her headband around her neck.

The two of them dropped down out of a tree and landed in their meeting spot followed only moments after by Shikamaru. Hitomi and he looked at each other and instantly faced the other way crossing their arms.

"You're such a pain." He mumbled as they both glanced back at each other.

"Okay Team!" they heard as their sensei dropped down. "No arguing!" Anko said.

"Anko? You're our sensei? I didn't think you would become a sensei." Hitomi said.

"Well they were short one." She explained. Hitomi and Kami only chuckled at the fact that their sensei was a girl. "Alright, exercise number one. Search this forest for three paper bombs I have placed, do it fast or they might go off."

"What?!" The three of them exclaimed simultaneously.

"Relax; they aren't actually going to explode. They are only for training…at least…I think I just grabbed training bombs…" Anko said putting a finger to her lips and thinking.

"Sensei!" Anko's three squad members yelled.

"Well better hurry then huh." She said grinning.

Quickly the three of them scattered searching for the bombs all of them wondering how this was considered training. Kami just wanted to fight something. It wasn't long before Hitomi found the first bomb and disarmed it, it really was just a test bomb, it would've only released a small amount of smoke, but she wasn't prepared to leave the other two bombs to Kami and Shikamaru. For all she knew Shikamaru was off taking a snooze.

"Oh hey!" Anko called. "If you don't find those bombs before they go off then uh… no lunch you hear!"

"How cruel!" Kami cried out.

"Guys I found one over here!" Hitomi called out letting everyone know where the first one had been retrieved.

Shikamaru thought to himself, if Anko Sensei was so simple minded that she couldn't even remember whether or not she had gotten real or training paper bombs then her placement of the bombs must have been simple minded as well. Otherwise perhaps she only said that the paper bombs may have been real so that the three of them would rush to find them faster. Motivation, something Shikamaru realized he didn't have a lot of. He sighed and dashed off to where he figured the second bomb would be placed, of course he was right, he may be lazy be he was practically a genius. He wasted no time telling anyone where the second bomb was and instead rushed to the final one disarming it and heading back to Anko without telling Hitomi or Kami.

"Oh, Shikamaru what are you doing?" she asked being caught eating a lunch she had brought.

"I found the rest of the bombs sensei." He explained lying in the grass.

"What already?" she asked looking around for Hitomi and Kami.

"Sensei please, you didn't hide them very well, and the two of them are still searching. I didn't think it would hurt to leave them searching. Besides you can help yourself to lunch then. I'm not hungry anyhow. I'd rather just watch the clouds in peace."

"Oh…"Anko just blinked and said nothing for a moment then just started laughing. "Hitomi, Kami come on back! Looks like your teammate outdid you this time."

"What?!" Hitomi asked jumping back into the small clearing where Shikamaru and Anko sat.

"Sensei why? You women, you're all the same. Troublesome individuals and you always take each other's side." Shikamaru complained.

"What? They found all the bombs…but I didn't get to find one!" Kami yelled stomping her foot down and creating cracks and indents in the earth beneath it. "Sensei when do I get to fight something!"

"Well" Anko said packing up all the food and standing. "You could all fight me. I bet I can take you all on at the same time." She said grinning.

"You wanna bet?" Kami asked ready for a fight.

"Now now, hold on. Let's get to a better suited area. There is a clearing just to the north of here. I'll meet you all there." Anko said racing off into the forest.

"Let's get her!" Kami yelled about to run off when Shikamaru stopped her.

"Wait. We can't just go rushing into battle. We need some sort of strategy. I hate to say it, but like Hitomi said yesterday, we can't wind up getting in each other's way. I have a plan." He said.

"Like we are supposed to listen to you?!" Kami yelled ready to punch him out.

He jumped back from her thinking to himself, just the other day Hitomi spoke about how her physical combat was fast, but not as strong as Kami, he would hate to be on the other end of a real punch from Kaminari.

"Okay okay no need to get ahead of ourselves, I was just saying we had a relatively diverse team. Kaminari is close range combat, I can do mid-range, and Hitomi works well at a distance. Don't you think we should consider how we can use this to our advantage?" he asked.

"Well…I hate to agree with him but he does have a point. Alright, I'll use my jutsu to get Anko sensei grounded, but since it takes a lot of chakra once I have her down Shikamaru will use his shadow possession to prevent her from moving, and that's when you come in Kami. Take her down while she is vulnerable." Hitomi said slamming her fist into her other palm.

"That's…"Shika began "Ah forget it" he finished dropping his head in frustration thinking how that was exactly what he was going to say.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's do it!" Kami yelled running off with Hitomi right behind her.

"The best way to deal with these three is probably going to be to go along with most of what they say, but that's completely opposite of what I want to do. Man what a drag." Shikamaru said chasing after them

"Alright, Anko sensei we are ready." Hitomi said once Shikamaru arrived.

"We will see about that. How about this, if you guys win I'll treat you to Ichiraku ramen, but if you lose…" Anko began.

"We won't lose!" Kami exclaimed.

"But if you do, then it looks like you aren't getting lunch at all and instead, you can sit and watch me eat." Anko said giving a smile followed by a laugh. "Ready? Begin!"

Shikamaru and Kami jumped back into the trees leaving Hitomi to face her alone. Quickly Hitomi performed her hand combinations but before she was able to actually hold Anko down there were snakes flying at her.

"Ahhhh!" She screamed dropping her focus and jumping to the side to dodge them "Snakes! What the hell…" Anko simply grinned throwing snake after snake at Hitomi watching her scream.

"Okay enough!" Hitomi yelled. "Gravitational jutsu protective barrier!" and then a small barrier surrounded Hitomi and the snakes hit the barrier and bounced off in all directions.

Essentially the barrier was created by altering the directional flow of gravity as it surrounds her, thus when the snakes flew at the barrier they would bounce off in different directions, the downside was that by actually altering the direction of the gravity it took about three times as much chakra as just making the gravity under Anko's feet twice as strong. Upon seeing Hitomi's ability Anko stood speechless for a moment, she had no idea Hitomi had begun learning how to manipulate the direction of the gravity.

"Now Shikamaru! Double Gravity!" she yelled placing her hand onto the ground causing the gravitational pull on Anko's body to be twice as much.

Anko attempted to move, but it was slow, too slow for her to get off another jutsu before Shikamaru claimed her with his shadow possession. Hitomi collapsed to the ground releasing all her jutsu exhausted from her chakra use. Anko grunted as she was unable to move, but she managed to shift her gaze to see Shikamaru holding his shadow possession strong.

"Raaaaah!" Kami yelled jumping out from the trees and slamming her fist into the ground causing the earth to give throwing Anko into the air.

Before Anko was able to recover from being tossed Hitomi managed to double gravity once more pulling Anko to the ground faster than she could have expected. Anko smashed into the ground unconscious and surprised, but impressed. Kami ran to Hitomi and helped her up before the three of them walked over to Anko.

"Sensei…does this mean you're going to buy us lunch?" Kami asked cracking her knuckles.

"Really sensei, that was too easy. You weren't even trying. Not that I'm complaining, fighting like this has no point, it's too much effort." Shikamaru said grinning.

"Shikamaru!" Kami and Hitomi yelled together.

"Well…next time. Next time I'll give you a real test." She said managing to stand up and rub her head. "But for today, yes I guess I owe you a lunch. I really thought I had you, but when you two jumped into the trees I couldn't find you with my snakes quick enough. Next time you'll get a taste of what I can really do." She chuckled.

Chapter 2

They had been doing what could be called training for some time now. The same old stuff happened every day. Shikamaru complained for having to do just way too much work, and Hitomi and Kami were always butting head with him. It seemed as if the squad grew worse and worse with every passing day, they thought they would never be ready for the Chunin exams in a few months, but this was not true. While their relationships with each other were standing on pins and needles they completed every mission successfully. Essentially during the most critical times they worked together forgetting all outside distractions.

"Alright squad another C rank mission." Anko said meeting with them in their typical spot by the main tree of the village.

"Another C rank?" Kami said disappointed.

"Kaminari, you three are only genin, you can't be expecting to get anything higher than a C rank just yet." Anko explained.

"So what's the mission? Catching another run away cat?" Kami asked annoyed.

"Well, hopefully it's something simple, the sooner I get to go home and sleep the better. All this mission business is such a drag." Shikamaru said not even opening his eyes from where he way lying beneath the tree.

"Will you be quiet already? For someone so lazy you sure do have a lot of opinion racked up in that dumb skull." Hitomi said poking him in the forehead.

"It's not dumb that's for sure." He said glaring up at her to see her grinning back.

"Anyway, no it's an escort mission. We have to escort a merchant to a town here in the land of fire. It's a little over a day away at full speed so walking it'll take us a few days, just be sure to bring enough stuff. We head out in an hour so meet me at the front gate. I have some things to tend to so see you then" Anko said before dashing off leaving the three of them.

"I bet you think that gives you an hour to nap don't you Shikamaru?" Hitomi said sitting by him, and Kami next to her.

"Well a guy can hope, but not when there are women around." He said sitting up. "What is it this time?"

"Oh…well actually nothing. I thought maybe I'd actually let you nap." Hitomi said smiling at him.

"Is this some type of trick? Reverse psychology? What's going on?" Shikamaru asked glaring at her suspiciously.

"Nope, no trick this time." Hitomi said still holding her grin.

Shikamaru didn't understand, every day she did everything in her power to annoy him be it toying with his hair or just touching him in general, she was annoying. Oh man how he hated it when she messed with his hair. He even tried to play shoji with her once and she cheated, just so she could win! What was she getting at this time, what was her plan? He wouldn't let himself be taken off guard otherwise he might wake up with a unibrow and pigtails again.

"Go ahead take your nap." Hitomi said standing up. "Let's go get some things Kami."

"Ummm…okay?" Kami said confused as to why they weren't messing with Shikamaru as they usually did.

"Oh, see you later Shika." Hitomi said turning around and giving him a peace sign.

"I told you don't call me that!" he yelled.

"But it's so fun!" she said as she walked away.

She always had to get the last dig in, the last word. Typical woman Shikamaru thought. He didn't know what she was planning but he wasn't going to let himself fall asleep and find out. This time he would stay away, so he got up and went home to actually pack some things for the trip ahead; hopefully it would be a nice and easy one.

"So uh…Hitomi…why are we just leaving Shikamaru back there?" Kami asked as they walked back to the house.

"I didn't think you would get it, alright think about it. Every day we do something to Shikamaru, especially during his naps right? We wax his eyebrows or we draw on his face or put little bows in his hair, then suddenly one day we just…stop. We just go ahead and let him nap? You honestly think he's just going to go ahead and nap?" Hitomi asked.

"Oh well, no not when you put it that way." Kami said.

"Exactly, Shikamaru might be lazy but he is a genius, and bear with me here, him being a genius leads to his laziness. Anyway basically Shika isn't going to sleep, he's going to sit up running through every reason, and every possible idea we could have running through our head. He is going to be thinking about everything we have done before and what plan we could be coming up with next. By allowing him to actually nap we can successfully take away his entire nap." Hitomi explained laughing at her genius idea.

"That's absolutely…it's wonderful." Kami said smiling bigger than usual.

"You make it a daily goal to ruin Shikamaru's day don't you? You can't be happy if he is." Hitomi said shaking her head at Kami.

"Oh, right because I'm the one who comes up with all these ideas. Aren't you usually the one who comes up with these things? I just go along or beat him up." Kami shot back.

"True, however, I'm right aren't I? It's become part of your daily routine to get some sort of hit on Shikamaru's daily happiness hasn't it?" Hitomi asked.

"Well maybe a little. He just annoys me so much!" Kami exclaimed as they reached the house and she punched the ground.

"Sometimes you crack me up." Hitomi said as she headed inside.

An hour later they all met at the front gate, Shika was already there waiting making sure that the girls couldn't get there early and set up some type of trap. Hitomi just shook her head and laughed as they waited for Anko to meet them, the merchant was already there waiting. Shikamaru just glared at Hitomi then at Kami and back and forth trying to discern something, anything from them.

"Alright off we go." Anko said walking up. "Another C rank mission."

"Yeah another simple C rank right Shika?" Hitomi said smiling at him again.

"She has been smiling at me an awful lot" Shikamaru thought. "Simple? Yeah right three days of nothing but walking? What a drag."

"Oh shape up Shika, it'll be fun right Kami?" Hitomi teased as they all began walking on their way.

"Oh yeah, super fun." Kami said laughing.

"Three. Full. Days. Three full days with you two…this is probably the worst treatment I've received all year." Shikamaru said dropping his head.

"Oh come now, surely they have treated you worse." Anko said looking back at Shikamaru and the two girls.

"Perhaps, but I didn't have to endure it for three full days." Shikamaru explained. "Just thinking about what the might come up with is exhausting. It's like they have an endless supply of evil up there in their minds."

"Don't be ridiculous Shika!" Hitomi said rubbing her head and laughing nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about you'll be fine the three days will just fly by."

For the first day the three squad members behaved talking mostly to Anko or the merchant instead of each other. It wasn't until the first night when things first began to, well things changed. Hitomi and Kami slept next to each other on small pads while Shikamaru slept on the other side of the fire. Anko took the night watch; after all it was her job to make sure the merchant got there safely.

"So…Shika." Hitomi whispered once Kami was asleep.

"What now? You made miss my nap today, I don't care what you do I'm going to sleep tonight." He said aggravated followed by a yawn.

"Look…do you hate me?" she asked looking through the fire at him.

He sighed "I don't hate you Hitomi, I can't promise the same for Kaminari, but no I don't hate you. You can be a real drag sometimes, but my life would probably be pretty boring without you around, it's not that boring and quiet isn't good, but it would just be different. After all I've been your neighbor for as long as I can remember. It's become sort of a daily thing, you know. I wake up in the morning I expect to get some type of good morning message, if I suddenly woke up one day all on my own I might be a little confused, worried even if I want to go as far to say that." He explained looking up at the stars while resting his hands behind his head. "I hate to say it, but I consider you a friend."

Hitomi looked away unable to hold back her smile. "Well, I guess I have to agree with all that. My life would surely be boring if I didn't have you to pick on all the time. Goodnight Shikamaru, and don't take any of this stuff too personal okay?" She said putting out the fire and lying down to sleep.

"Yeah." He responded rolling onto his side to face away from her.

Anko just smiled and leaned against the merchant's cart surprised that the two of them were holding a conversation where Shikamaru wasn't being insulted, for once Shikamaru had been bashing her, and even so he threw a hidden compliment in here and there. Eventually she fell asleep abandoning her night watch.

She jumped awake realizing she had already slept in and they were running behind. "Wake up!" She yelled waking everyone up. "The longer we lay around here the longer we're going to be on this mission."

The first half of the day the three of them spent silent. They were all too tired to walk much less play practical jokes on one another. It was getting hot outside and they were all dragging their feet just trying to keep up with Anko.

"Sensei…can't we take a break, it's so hot." Kami said.

"If we take a break then we will have to be on this trip that much longer. Besides I have things to do, I have to get back and take care of the Chunin exams that are coming up in a few months." Anko said.

"Oh yeah I almost forgot about the exams." Kami said straightening up. "Do you think we're ready sensei?"

"To be honest? Yes I do. You might all have your disputes but your teamwork is superb, and that never ceases to amaze me. The thing you all need to work on is your individual combat. When you all work together you perform nearly perfectly, however individually you all need some work." Anko said looking back at them. She was rather impressed at how they performed together so well when outside battle they all constantly butted heads. "But very well let's take a break, get some water."

"We, we're taking a break?" Shikamaru asked.

"You aren't complaining are you Shikamaru? We can always continue on." Anko said raising an eyebrow at him.

"No no! No complaining here!" He said waving his hands.

"Alright then, we stop." Anko said stopping the cart.

Shikamaru sighed and lay on the ground when Hitomi spoke. "Hey Kami look a pond! Let's go freshen up." She said.

"A pond?" Kami and Shikamaru said together.

"Yeah let's go." Hitomi said taking Kami's arm and pulling her over to the pond. "We'll be right back sensei!"

Shikamaru sighed as he trailed after them. Kami had been ready to jump in but Hitomi grabbed onto her clothes and pulled her back and without a word moved her gaze to the fish in the water. Kami looked at Hitomi and then followed her gaze to the piranhas in the water and quickly jumped back away from it.

"What's keeping you two? What are you afraid to get your hair wet?" Shikamaru asked walking up to them.

"Yeah, something like that. Why don't you go in first?" Hitomi said grinning.

"What? Go in? I don't need to go in." Shikamaru replied.

"Sure you do I bet the water is great!" Kami said pushing Shikamaru into the water.

Quickly he focused his chakra to his feet and walked across the top of the water sighing relieved that he hadn't fallen in. Before he got a chance to walk back to shore a piranha jumped out of the water at him, he dodged but lost his focus and fell in, all the piranha's chasing after him. Hitomi had never seen Shikamaru move so fast even when he wasn't submerged in water.

"What are you doing just standing there get me out of here!" Shikamaru yelled running and jumping through the water for his life.

Hitomi and Kami burst out laughing falling to their knees having trouble breathing as they watch Shikamaru swim for his life. Hitomi finally calmed herself and decided it was time to get Shikamaru out, he was on her team and the exams were soon she couldn't afford losing him now.

"Alright alright." Hitomi said tossing her hand up in an attempt to use her gravitational jutsu to lift him out of the water but he was moving too quickly for her to get a good shot. "Quit moving around you idiot!" Hitomi yelled frustrated.

"What's the point, just leave him there." Kami said standing finally calming down from seeing that priceless look on his face.

"Oh Kami, have a little bit of a heart, just think about how it benefits you. The exams are coming up in less than a month, and if we lose a team member we won't even be able to compete effectively." Hitomi said trying to attempt her jutsu again, but failing.

She sighed and stepped out onto the water. She was fast enough to be able to get to him and back before any piranhas attacked her. Quickly she ran across the water and grabbed his wrist just before he was out of reach, pulling him up and out of the water and quickly over to shore.

"You really are dumb sometimes." Hitomi said shaking her head.

"Who was it….that pushed me…into the water?" Shika asked catching his breath his clothes and hair dripping wet.

"Oh well that was me dummy." Kami said kicking him.

The rest of the trip Shikamaru complained and attempted to dry his clothes off the best he could. The second night things calmed down a little, Hitomi and Kami slept quietly along with Anko while Shikamaru sat in a tree keeping watch. He couldn't help but think about his squad. Hitomi was a pain sometimes, but Anko was right they did work together well, and even though Hitomi always played pranks she did ultimately help him out in the end. At least she knew her limits, and it was Kami who pushed him into the water. Kami, she was a real drag, he didn't think he'd ever get along with her. He shook it off as he went back to watching, although he definitely wasn't the best one to put on watch considering he fell asleep not more than five minutes after everyone else.

"Hey sensei." Kami said. "What kind of stuff can we expect at the Chunin exams?"

"Kaminari you know I can't reveal that kind of stuff." Anko said looking disappointed at her. "All I can tell you is to be prepared, prepared for anything."

"What do you mean?" Kami asked.

"I mean anything. For example Kami, if we're discussing fighting techniques, your physical abilities are rather superb, however you don't have any good long range attacks, and your strategy skills are poor, that's because Hitomi and Shikamaru have good combat assessment skills." Anko explained. "For the exams brush up on your distant skills and especially your combat strategies, basically don't get reckless."

"What about us sensei?" Hitomi asked.

"For you Hitomi your long range abilities are your strong suit, however you know they take a lot of your chakra to use considering it is a special chakra style and we don't really know anything about it. You could end a battle in seconds if it goes right. You also have fast reflexes so getting close to your enemy is easier than for others however your close range skills are lacking. Brush up on close range combat, you'll need it in the long run anyway." Anko said.

Shikamaru said nothing, it was already taking too much work as it was, and he didn't care about learning what else he had to improve. He didn't really care if he stayed genin forever, chunin would probably have to do a lot more work than genin. Just thinking about the exams was a pain. He figured there would be a writing type exam but he was sure there would be battle exams. To Shikamaru even the very thought of putting pen-to-paper was too much effort.

"Shikamaru don't you want to know what kind of improvements you need to make as well?" Anko asked.

"Nah, sensei we both know it doesn't matter what you tell me we both know it's not like I'm going to practice or anything." Shikamaru answered.

"Good point." Anko said chuckling as they finally arrived at the small town.

When they all returned back home a few days later Anko reported in to Sarutobi and headed off straight to help on the Chunin Exams. After all she was a Chunin examiner first and a sensei second which might sound wrong but the only reason Anko was a sensei was because they needed another sensei. Anko was given to this team because Hitomi was the best student in the class, she acted as a leader to Kami already when she needed to, Shikamaru feel in the middle for class average and was the best choice student to deal with Hitomi and Kami, and basically it wasn't wise to split Hitomi and Kami up, it only made sense to put them together, and since her grades were on the low side it balanced out. Aside from that the three of them had already realized they had a perfect skill set for a team.

"Hey Kami, I think I'm going to go spend some time alone, so I'll see you tonight alright?" Hitomi said as they left walked into town.

"Right! I'm off to train!" Kami said running off.

Hitomi chuckled and turned to see Shikamaru walking off without a word. He seemed so intent on getting to wherever he was going; he actually was walking relatively fast. She decided to trail him quietly. After following him to the outskirts of the village he stopped and searched around him. Hiding behind a building quickly she escaped his vision and when she peaked back around the building she saw he had turned around and was walking through a dense patch of trees.

She ran out from behind the building and followed him through the trees climbing up above him doing everything she could to not make any sound. When they came to the end she saw a clearing of flowers with a small stream running through the patch. This must be where Shikamaru comes when they can't find him. She watched as he looked around before plopping down in the soft grass and flowers relaxing finally.

"So this is where you spend all your alone time." Hitomi said dropping down from the trees and walking over to him.

"What?! Hitomi? Did you follow me here?" Shikamaru asked annoyed sitting up.

"Relax I'm not here to torture you or anything." She said sitting down by him.

"As if you being here isn't torture enough." He said ignoring her and lying back down.

"Look Shika, I just came here to talk. We both know the exams are coming up soon and whether any of us want to believe it we all need more training before we are truly ready for them. I'm here to offer my help, studying, training, anything. That is…if you want it. I mean the bottom line is you're my teammate and I will always be there for my teammates, no matter what. Not just Kami that includes you, that includes Anko that includes all my other friends who are ninja like Rayne and that includes anyone else in this village. That's why I don't complain about missions as often as everyone else, because I know people need us even if it is catching the same runaway cat for the third time." Hitomi explained. "So if you want my help I'm offering."

"Well maybe…but not today." Shika replied actually considering her help for a moment. He may be lazy but she was right, if he didn't want to help the village if he didn't want to become something he would've never become a ninja. Sure all the men in his family had become ninja, but that wasn't his way he wouldn't have followed in their footsteps if he didn't want to.

"Well then, maybe tomorrow." She said getting up.

"Well wait… I mean, you're here you may as well stay. You know about this place now, no reason for you to leave, it is a perfect day." Shikamaru said feeling the warm breeze flow across his face.

She smiled and sat down again next to him letting the wind blow her hair around whipping it and tossing her long silver hair back and forth. She smiled and laid down kicking her boots off and watched the clouds in silence with Shikamaru. For most of that night they just lay there in silence practically forgetting they were both there. Eventually Hitomi rolled over and picked on of the flowers examining it. She had never even seen this type of flower before and here it was in her own village the whole time.

"They're called Middlemist Reds, or Middlemist camellias. They are the rarest flower in the world." He told her.

"I thought camellias were common." She said looking at it. "Now that I look at it this looks just like a normal camellia. What's so special about it?" she asked,

"It's red." Shikamaru explained. "Red camellias only grow in a few parts of the world; this is one of them although not many people know about it. My family is the only one in this village who knows about these flowers because it's right outside the forest in which only we are allowed. We take care of them, well usually I do. I make sure that the environment is suitable for them to survive, the reason I don't tell anyone is I don't want a bunch of people coming back here and ruining them."

"And... I just picked one…" Hitomi said feeling ashamed.

"Don't worry about it; there are a lot of them this year. Why don't you keep that one?" He said sitting up.

"But it'll die." Hitomi answered.

"Yeah eventually, but until then you can keep it. Plus you can always come back here to see new ones." He told her.

She smiled at him then smelled the flower before tucking it behind her ear and lying down to watch clouds again.

For the rest of the month up until the exams Hitomi spent every day working. The mornings were spent with Kami training and helping her accomplish her ninjutsu with her earth style, her afternoons were spent watching clouds with Shikamaru and messing with his hair when he napped, after all it was part of her daily activities to annoy him one way or another. During the evenings she studied and trained with Shikamaru the two of them testing their jutsu's against one another and sparring to improve their close range and hand to hand combat.

By the week of the exams Kami had never even imagined she would become so good with her Earth Jutsu, and Hitomi had finally begun to truly understand how to control her barrier without using so much chakra. Shikamaru had never read so many books in his life and his shadow possession was going further than ever before and lasting longer. Each week Hitomi made the three of them spend time together training and working as a team. Kami and Shikamaru no doubt weren't growing any closer, they still hated each other, but Shikamaru and Hitomi's relationship had begun to change. He couldn't tell if he could handle their jokes because they were doing them less and less or if it was because he was actually starting to enjoy being around them.

Though Anko was busy most of the time the group still went on simple D rank missions that just involved them being around in the town. When Anko finally returned a week before the exams started she pushed them all night making them prove themselves to her. She couldn't believe how far they had come since she had been gone and without her as well. She went ahead and gave them the first day off, letting them rest knowing how much they would need it and also knowing that all this training she was about to put them through would be exhausting. Not that Shikamaru needed any more help being exhausted, Hitomi had already been taking away from his sleep enough, but he was devoted, motivated, something he had never been before, and they were all ready for the Chunin Exams.

Chapter 3

The first day Anko gave them off upon her return they took advantage of. No training the whole day, but Anko made it mandatory that the three of them spend time together so they decided they would take a stroll and stop by and get some lunch, Hitomi always standing between Kami and Shika. While they were walking along Shikamaru remembered he had some family matter to attend to but Hitomi knew he just wanted to take a nap or go play Shoji with his father. The girls let it slide however, needing some time to themselves so they allowed him to leave on the condition he made sure Anko didn't find out where he was actually going.

While they were walking along and chatting about the upcoming exams they came across Naruto, Sakura, the third Hokage's grandson, and his two friends along with a blonde haired girl with another guy dressed in a black suit with paint on his face. They couldn't quite tell what was happening except that the guy that wasn't from their village looked like he was about to fight Naruto and the honorable grandson, Konahamaru, when suddenly another boy appeared in the trees near Sasuke who was also sitting up there.

"Kankuro, back off, you're an embarrassment to our village." This mysterious boy said. It was just what Hitomi thought, they were from another village probably here on business involving the Chunin exams.

"Oh hey Gaara." The black suited man now revealed to be named Kankuro said. The boy in the tree's name must be Gaara.

The two girls said nothing not wanting to get involved with any of them, the girl and Kankuro looked at least a few years older and the one in the tree just looked threatening.

"Have you forgotten the whole reason we came here?" Gaara snapped hanging upside down.

"Oh, no I know, it's just…they challenged us they started it really. Alright what happened was…" Kankuro stuttered.

"Shut up…" Gaara said glaring at Kankuro with his dark eyes. "Or I'll kill you."

"He sounds a lot like someone I know." Hitomi whispered to Kami and Kami just hit her with her elbow.

"I'm sorry Gaara, you're right, I had no right…" Kankuro said and Hitomi could almost see him shaking in fear, Gaara must've been telling the truth if Kankuro was that scared of someone who looked so much younger than him. Who were these people anyway?

"I'm sorry for any trouble." Gaara said turning into sand and dropping to the ground before reforming himself. Kami and Hitomi stood speechless, what had they just witnessed. "Let's go, we didn't come here to play games." He continued as the three of them began walking away.

Hitomi and Kami ran up into the scuffle when Sakura began to speak. "Hey wait a minute! I can tell from your headband you're from the hidden sand village. I know the land of fire and the land of wind are allies but no shinobi can enter another's village without permission. What's your purpose here and it better be good." Sakura ordered.

"Are you all so clueless? We have permission. We're here for the Chunin Exams." The unknown girl said.

"The Chunin Exams what's that?" Naruto asked.

"Wow, are you that dumb?" the mystery girl asked.

"Naruto the Chunin Exams are what every genin has to take in order to advance to a chunin. They are coming up soon." Hitomi explained.

"Awesome!" Naruto said.

The three Sand shinobi just shook their heads and dashed off. Anko appeared just then and called both her squad members together, she already had Shikamaru with her. The girls were confused but they followed her leaving the three sand shinobi be, they had permission there was nothing to be done.

"What is it sensei?" Hitomi asked.

"It's about the exams, you see you three got wind of the exams sooner than everyone else because I help prepare them, however because the rest of the genin probably don't know anything about the exams the Hokage is ordering a preliminary test to see if you three and the rest of the genin can really be accepted. After all most for most of the genin it's too soon for them to be competing in this. Here are your application forms." She said hand each of them one. "Know that if you decide not to participate you do not have to, you can wait until next year, but I have recommended all three of you. If you wish to participate and I hope you all do sign your applications and report to room 301 in five days at 3pm." Anko explained.

"Sensei, won't you being our sensei cause problems? I mean doesn't the simple fact that we knew about the exams and have been preparing put our squad at an advantage?" Hitomi asked.

"No, if they thought it would cause problems they would have never assigned me to being a sensei. All the squads could have known about the exams just as easily, all the sensei's knew about them and should have been preparing their teams for them. The only advantage you three could possibly have is knowing the general time of month when they would be held. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to the three of you if you weren't able to compete in the exams because I was your sensei, they would have removed me from duty and placed you with a new sensei if I said too much. Like I said just report to that room alright? I have faith in all of you. I hope to see you at the exams this year." Anko said smiling and leaving us alone.

"So much for my nap." Shikamaru complained looking at the application. "Now I have to write more."

"It's alright Shika; it's just signing your name." Hitomi pointed out opening the application.

"Are you sure we're ready for this Hitomi?" Kami asked. "I mean we could be in serious danger if we participate in this, and like Anko said most of the genin aren't ready."

"But she thinks we are. Have faith in yourself Kami, and in the team." Hitomi said.

Suddenly three masked men dropped from above. "You wanna save your Hokage? Get out of our way."

"What?!" Hitomi said pulling a kunai.

Turned out after Hitomi, Kami, and Shikamaru kicked the three random enemies asses they were actually just leaf village jounin testing them, looks like they passed with ease, it was just about the easiest fight they had ever been in and there hadn't been many. Test one complete, now time for the next test, and the exams hadn't even started, this must've been part of the preliminary stuff Anko had mentioned.

After the five days had passed the three of them traveled to the academy room 301 where there were people standing everywhere outside and two kids were beating up anyone who tried to enter the room.

"What's going on?" Shikamaru asked.

"I'm…not sure…" Hitomi said. "But those two guys look familiar…"

"Hey, yeah they look like the jounin who usually watch the front gate, only they look younger." Kami noticed.

"You're right Kami. You're getting better at this stuff, and aren't we only on the second floor?" Hitomi observed.

"Yeah now that I think about it we only went up two flights of stairs. I thought something seemed off when we stopped here, but seeing all the people I just assumed this was the right place." Shikamaru said.

"Alright let's go then, no wasting our time here." Hitomi continued as the three of them began walking through the crowd.

"Hey just where do you think you're going?" One of the bullies asked.

"Who us? Oh well, we're going to the third floor, after all this is only the second floor right?" Hitomi said.

"Shouldn't you two be watching the front gate? I hope you sent someone else there, just because these exams are coming up doesn't mean you should leave our village vulnerable. You should be watching the front gate harder with all the other village participants coming in." Kami argued crossing her arms.

Both men at the door looked nearly shocked. Not only had the team seen through the genjutsu but they even know who the two bullies were, they were taken off guard. Hitomi just shrugged and began walking to the third floor, they didn't need to waste any time here, she was sure there were harder tests ahead.

"Excuse me, Hitomi Natsuki is it?" a boy in a green jump suit came up and asked. "Kaminari Nambake?"

"Uh yeah?" Both girls said together.

"I am Rock Lee, will you be my girlfriend!" he yelled blushing.

"Uh which one?" Hitomi said.

"Either or both of you!" he yelled.

Both girls' mouths dropped open and even Shika's mouth did. Lee just asked both of them out, at the same time. Hitomi's eye twitched not believing what she had just heard; she looked at Kami who was thinking the same thing. Kami shook her head and cracked her knuckles. Lee just looked at both girls scared but hopeful, they hadn't given an answer. The girls pulled their arms back nice and slow and in synchronization punched Lee square in the face on either side.

Looking down at Lee on the ground Hitomi then looked back at Shikamaru and they proceeded on to turn in their applications in room 301. When they finally arrived Anko was waiting to formally accept their applications, she moved aside and the three of them went inside to see a room just full of other participants, people who looked in their 20's even they were only 13 and 14! The rest of the genin from their graduation year were all there taking the exam alongside them however so they felt better.

"Man I can't believe everyone is here for this stupid thing." Shikamaru said as all their genin friends walked over, well more or less friends.

"This is going to be fun! At least for all of us worth right Rayne?!" Kiba said looking back at her as she peered around the crowd.

"I don't know Kiba, it could be dangerous." Rayne responded. "Oh Hitomi, Kami you guys came! I wasn't sure if you would show up!"

"Dangerous? Please it'll be a breeze." Kiba said.

"Don't get so full of yourself Kiba, you're embarrassing." Rayne said shaking her head.

"Oh…sorry about that." Kiba said rubbing his head.

"Guys just look at all these people. There are people here from every village but look at how much older some of them are." Hitomi said making everyone look around and actually realize what they were pitted against. "Rayne is right, this could be really dangerous, we can't drop our guard."

"Yeah some of them have had to have taken these exams like 7 times!" Kami exclaimed.

"Oh man, so the rumors about these exams being super hard are true, I knew this would be a total drag." Shikamaru said.

"Shika! We trained for this; don't tell me you're losing your motivation now!" Hitomi yelled at him.

"No! Well it's just, you can push me all you want but ultimately it won't matter, if I don't want to do it I don't want to do it." Shikamaru said.

"I guess it's too much to hope to change a person huh. As long as you pull through when you need to that's all I can ask." Hitomi said messing up his hair.

He shook her off and crossed his arms as he looked over to see Naruto and the others talking to a candidate from a different village, he had a bunch of cards on the ground they looked like…they had information about other candidates on them. They were looking at one about Gaara now.

"Hey Kami, that's that guy remember." Hitomi said.

"Oh yeah...what's it say about him?" She asked intrigued.

The other participant read off the information. "Mission experience 8 C ranks and…look at this 1 B rank as a genin. Other than that there isn't a lot more information on him, he was a rookie from another land originally, however there is one thing. He completely each mission without getting a single scratch on him"

"The dude's done a B rank as a genin and has never even been injured?!" Shikamaru exclaimed.

"Looks that way." The participant said. "There are candidates from all over, even the hidden sound, that village appeared just recently, no one really knows anything about it, what I mean is, this year we all have our work cut out for us."

Just then smoke appeared in the room and when it dispersed there were around 10 jounin standing there. "Alright." The lead one stated. "I'm Ibiki, your proctor, and from this moment on…your worst enemy." The lot of us gasped, what was he talking about? "Let's get one thing straight, there will be no fighting of any kind unless instructed by your proctor, and even then a fatal force of any kind is strictly prohibited, anyone who even thinks of breaking the rules will be disqualified immediately. Understood?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good then turn in your paperwork. You'll each receive a number which will determine where you will sit; you will start the written test when I say begin."

"A written test, just as I predicted." Shikamaru said.

Each person turned in their paperwork and received a number, neither Kami, Hitomi, Shika, Rayne, or anyone else were sitting next to each other, except Hitomi was next to Naruto and on the other side was Hinata. They all had the written test sitting in front of them unopened. Hitomi glanced around to find Kami and Shikamaru but she couldn't, she was sure they were nervous, but luckily thanks to Shikamaru's hunch they had studied up on what they thought was important.

"Everyone listen up there are important rules that need to be gone over and I'm only saying this once and I'm not going to answer any questions so you better understand it the first time you hear. Alright, Rule #1 The written test is graded on a point reduction system, you'll all begin the test with a perfect score, 10 points, for each answer you get wrong one point will be reduced, thus if you miss three questions your final score is 7 understood? Rule #2 Teams will pass or fail based on the total score of all three members."

Everyone gasped and I just hoped Shikamaru was still awake and that Kami really had studied and understood things. Hitomi looked around and finally spotted Shikamaru's hair behind her, she could see the look on his face, he was definitely worried, although he probably wouldn't mind failing, but that only meant he would have to take this whole thing again later. She still hadn't found Kami and she could feel her heart racing.

"Alright Rule #3, the sentinels placed around the room are there to watch each and everyone one of you for any signs of cheating, and for every cheating incident they spot they will subtract 2 points from the culprits score, and if they catch you five time the team will be dismissed before the tests are even scored. Be aware, they have some of the sharpest eyes in the village. Anyone fool enough to be caught cheating doesn't deserve to be here, if you want to be considered shinobi, then show us why you deserve it. Oh and one more thing, if anyone on the team should get a zero and fail the test…then the entire team fails. No questions. Now the final question won't be given out until 15 minutes before the end of the test period, you'll have one hour. Begin." Ibiki said and people started opening the test booklets faster than any test they had taken.

First question, deciphering a code, easy Hitomi thought working through it even though it turned out to be tough. Shikamaru spent one second looking at it and his genius mind figured it out, as for Kami this question she was at a loss for. Question two, line B in the diagram indicates the trajectory of a shuriken thrown at enemy C by ninja A seated atop a tree 7 meters tall. Describe and formulate the trajectory required if C were positioned at points D. E, and F. Also predict the farthest possible range of the shuriken and explain how you arrived at your answer. Hitomi's heart sank, oh god was all she could think. Even Shikamaru looked at this one even and had trouble; Kami didn't stand a chance either.

These problems were very advanced and integrated and involved complex equations and energy analysis along with the use of principles of uncertainty. There couldn't have been more than a handful of people there who even understood what most of the questions were asking. We'll it was only question two they had eight more. Question 3, this was when team Anko began realizing that each problem became more difficult than the one before it. Past the first question no one even understood how to begin to attempt the problems. Shika and Hitomi's eyes widened, they finally understood once they took one swift look around the room.

They were trying to get everyone to cheat; the test wasn't about whether or not they understood the concepts or could do the problems on their own, it was about how stealthy they could be when they collected knowledge, when they cheated. The village had placed people in the room who knew the answers to the problems; this test was to see how many ninja in the room could effectively cheat off the fake participants. During a mission it didn't matter if you knew what the proper trajectory of a shuriken was by deducing it through mathematical formulas, things like that were just learned by practice, no this was a test of skill and ability to obtain information without being noticed, not of smarts. After all Ibiki did say, anyone fool enough to be caught cheating, not anyone actually cheating. Plus usually being caught cheating was grounds for dismissal right away, here it was a two point reduction, that's the reason, they were supposed to cheat.

Hitomi didn't know if Kami had realized it as well, but she didn't have time to worry about her teammates, she couldn't answer these problems on her own she had to figure out how to cheat effectively without being caught, but even before that she needed to figure out who had the answers. Hitomi realized that Rayne had her dog figuring it out for her, what a brilliant idea, how would they know what her dog was saying only Rayne would know that, and no one would expect to be looking at her pet no; they would be focusing on her.

Shikamaru was fine, he could figure out a good part of the test on his own most likely, and if not he was smart enough to figure out a way to cheat, Kami must've figured it out as well, she had used her earth jutsu ever so slightly to lift up other desks just enough that she could easily see the work on other's papers without it being obvious. Hitomi's heart was racing, who cared if she figured out what the test was about if she couldn't even figure out how to get the answers, she was smart, she always paid attention in class, but she wasn't this smart, she wasn't a book worm like Sakura or Hinata and she wasn't a genius.

She took a deep breath, she had this. She had a special chakra nature, gravitational, and it was useless when she needed it most! She took another deep breath; maybe it wouldn't be so worthless. She saw a stack of papers on the proctor's desk and figured the key had to be in there. She was in the front row, and this was her only chance. Being in the front row like this left her unable to copy from someone unless they were next to her and one guy next to her had already been disqualified while the other happened to be Naruto, no luck there. She looked back at the desk and lifted her hand using her abilities to lift the desk an unnoticeable amount but enough to knock the papers onto the floor. There! She thought seeing the answer key. The proctor began walking around the desk to pick them up, she only had one shot, and she had to do it fast while all the other papers covered the answer key's movements. Swiftly she pulled the paper out from the group and under the desks picking it up with her quick reflexes, she glanced to all the sentinels, no one was writing anything down, one was grinning, had he seen her and ignored it?

She didn't care she just had to get the answers down. Undetected she slide the answer key into her lap and began copying, of course she had to put it in her own words, they might get suspicious if the answers were exactly the same. Finally she finished the ninth question right when Ibiki began to announce the tenth and final question. This one she had no key for, she hoped it would be something that didn't involve math or hard thinking, but rather battle technique or something of that nature.

"Alright, time for the final question, but first there are some more rules that you all need to be aware of." Ibiki said. "These rules are unique to question ten. Listen carefully and try not to let them frighten you. Rule #1 each of you are able to choose not to receive the final question, it's your decision. However, if you choose not to take the final question, regardless of your answers to the other nine you'll get a zero. In other words you fail, and in turn both your teammates fail. However, if you do accept the question and you get it wrong, you will not only fail…you will be barred from taking the chunin exam ever again!" Ibiki yelled.

Everyone gasped, even team Anko. Up to this point they were set, they had their answers and they were ready, but now…they either failed or took a giant risk, and if they missed the final question they were done for, they may as well give up being shinobi. They wouldn't let that happen. The logical thing to do was refuse the question and leave now taking it again in another six months or a year in hopes of getting different types of tests. If they didn't have Ibiki next time they might have different rules, they might not even have a written exam.

Hitomi looked behind her at Shika and then over at Kami nodding, she wanted to take the question on. Both her teammates responded in kind, whatever the question was they felt ready now they were just praying. Hitomi was sweating now, she already had been, but even more so now. This of course was only their first shot, if they failed now they would only disgraced themselves and their families, they wouldn't be able to come back and retake it next time like a good portion of the genin were doing now.

"Alright here comes the tenth question. Those who don't wish to take it raise your hand. Your number will be recorded and you'll be free to go." Ibiki said.

Hitomi looked around, her teammates didn't stand and neither did the rest of her first year genin teammates, but then…about half the people left in the room raised their hands and they along with their teams left, the number of people in the room from who started was down probably 90%, Hitomi looked over and saw that Naruto's paper was still blank but he wasn't raising his hand.

"Naruto…" Hitomi said, and then he raised his hand.

"Don't underestimate me I don't quit and I don't run! You guys aren't going to scare me off oh no! I don't care if I stay a genin forever I'll still be Hokage someday!" Naruto said.

Hitomi smiled and looked at her teammates again. "This decision could change your life, if for any reason you feel like you need to quit then you should now." Ibiki explained.

"No way!" Naruto yelled.

No one stood up and left after that, all the first year genin were going to take on the tenth and final question, Hitomi only wondered how hard it would be and prayed to god that not just her, but her teammates, and Rayne and everyone else answered this right, staying a genin forever just wasn't in her plans for the future or anyone else's.

"Well then, for those of you remaining there is only one thing left to do…and that's for me to tell you…" Ibiki said pausing, building anticipation "That you have all passed the first exam!"

Chapter 4

"Let me explain." Ibiki said. "You see my objective was not only to test you individually but also as a team and how well you each function as a part of that team, that's why the test was scored on a team basis so that you all knew that everything you did or didn't do directly affected your teammates. I wanted to see how you would handle the pressure. The fact is that the questions on the test were difficult, too difficult for any genin in this room to answer. The test was designed to make each of you cheat, it encouraged cheating in fact it practically demanded it. I imagine most of you realized that soon enough. Of course it would do you no good if no one had the answers, which is why I disguised two chunin who already knew the answers to sit in with you. Those who were caught at it failed, better not to cheat than to cheat clumsily. How well you gather intelligence can determine the success of a mission all on its own. However, always bear in mind that information gathered from enemy intelligence is not always accurate. Never forget that."

"So I still don't understand the purpose of the final question." That mystery girl from the sand village said.

"Surely you understand that the tenth question was the whole purpose and meaning of this exam. I gave you two options both extremely difficult. You could've chosen to skip the question and try again next time however that meant your teammates failed as well, or you could try the question and risk never becoming a chunin, it was a no win situation." Ibiki explained. "Those who chose the safest path, those who falter in a difficult situation and risk the lives of their comrades never deserve to be called chunin, at least not while I'm here. The rest of you have earned the right to continue on to the next step, and I hereby conclude this part of the chunin exams, good luck."

Just then something flew in from the window and a giant sheet burst open revealing… "Anko sensei?!" Shikamaru, Kami, and Hitomi all exclaimed.

"Heads up boys and girls this is no time to be celebrating! I'll be your next proctor! Anko Mirarashi." Anko said.

"Anko sensei?!" Hitomi Kami and Shika said with their mouths on the floor and their minds boggled. Their sensei was going to be their next proctor? They were in for it, everyone was going to think they were getting it easier somehow, but they knew Anko she would never do such a thing.

"Ready for the second test?! Good then let's go, follow me!" She yelled throwing her hand in the air.

The room fell quiet; Hitomi shook her head while Kami and Shika dropped their faces into their hands. The first time anyone really meets their sensei and she acts like this? Sure she was a bit immature at times, but come on.

"You're early…again." Ibiki said.

"What? There are so many, Ibiki how did you let this many pass, your test must've been too easy. Are you getting soft?" Anko asked.

"No, maybe it's just a stronger group of candidates this year." Ibiki argued.

"Heh, they don't look it. Trust me half of them will be eliminated when I'm done." Anko said looking around and grinning upon seeing her team. "Alright you maggots have had it easy so far, but things are going to be different first thing in the morning. I'll let you all know where to meet me in the morning, dismissed." She said

Everyone sighed and started getting up to leave, but they were all still extremely nervous. Team Anko didn't get to see their sensei; they wouldn't allow it just in case, Anko had kept her mouth shut so far but now the security had tightened. The found out from Kakashi where to meet, and when they arrived no one knew what they were looking at. A wired fence that said restricted are, trash everywhere, and the giant forest behind the fence looked void of any friendly life.

"This is the place for the second part of the exams. It's known as the 44th battle training zone, but we like to call it the forest of death." Anko said grinning. "Soon enough you'll find out why."

"You don't scare me!" Naruto yelled.

"Hm." Anko chuckled pulling a Kunai and throwing it at him cutting his cheek a little before capturing him in her arms from behind.

"Anko sensei!" Hitomi yelled.

She ignored her as a grass ninja appeared behind her and returned her kunai with its tongue, weird. "You know I wouldn't recommend standing this close to me unless you wanted a premature death." Anko said the grass ninja apologizing and stepping back. "Looks like everyone here is quick tempered today. Must be in the air, this'll be fun." She continued walking back up to the fence. "Now before we begin I need to give you all something, it's just a standard consent form."

"What for?" Sakura asked.

"Well see, some of you may not come back from this portion of the exam and I just need to get your consent to that otherwise it might be my responsibility and I definitely don't want that." Anko said laughing. "You'll have to read this and sign it before we begin, read it thoroughly, it's very important. Alright now I'll explain what you'll be doing on this test, here pass these out." Anko said handing the consent forms to Hitomi. "The first thing you all need to know is that this test attacks every single one of your survival skills."

"Survival what a drag." Shikamaru said taking a form from Hitomi and yawning.

"First I will give all of you a description of the terrain on the practice field. The 44th battle training zone has 44 locked entrance gates. There are rivers and a forest inside. In the center is a locked tower located ten kilometers from the locked gates. It's in this confined area that you'll undergo the survival test. The test consists off" Anko trailed off reaching into her pocket. "Anything goes battle in order to get your hand on one of these scrolls." She said holding two scrolls in her hand. "Both scrolls might I add, you'll be fighting to get both a heaven scroll, and an earth scroll. Half of the teams will have a heaven scroll and half with have an earth scroll, it's each teams job to find and retrieve the other kind of scroll from a different team."

"Okay, so then how exactly do we pass?" Kami asked.

"All three members of a squad must arrive at the central tower with both types of scrolls." Anko explained.

"That means no more than half of us will pass." Hitomi realized aloud. "Even less will pass if a team can't get both types of scrolls."

"No one said it was going to be easy." Anko said smirking. "This is the chunin exams after all, not just some training exercise. Oh yeah, one more thing, the test has a time limit. You must finish it within five days."

"Five days?!" Ino yelled.

"What are we supposed to do for food for five days?!" Choji exclaimed.

"That's part of the exam. Testing your survival skills, look around the forest is full of things to eat." Anko said crossing her arms.

"Yeah, but it's not just full of things to eat. There are dangerous animals and poisonous plants in there as well no doubt." Shikamaru said.

"So in other words, there is basically no way half of the teams will pass." Hitomi realized. "And with enemies everywhere there won't be any time to rest, we always need to be on guard."

"Exactly, this is designed to be a grueling exam and I'm sure some of you won't be up for the challenge." Anko said.

"So uh hypothetically speaking, let's say it's mid exam…can we quit?' Shikamaru asked.

Hitomi looked at him and growled and Kami thumped him on the head. "Of course not, in the middle of battle you can't just say sorry I quit, well I guess you could but it would probably wind up getting you killed." Anko said shaking her head.

"Aw man what a drag." Shikamaru said rubbing his head.

"Now listen up there are a few ways a team can be disqualified. The first way is simple, if all three members can't make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time allotted. Second if any team loses a member or a member becomes incapacitated and is unable to continue. And finally and most important, none of you and I mean absolutely none of you may look at the contents of the scrolls until you reach the tower, do I make myself perfectly clear?" Anko said fiercely. "Alright now teams exchange your consent forms and you'll receive a scroll then pick a gate and when we begin you'll all be let inside. Oh and one more piece of advice, just don't die!" she yelled looking specifically at her team.

They nodded at her and everyone began exchanging their consent forms. Shikamaru looked over at Hitomi and Kami talking only they weren't talking, they were actually arguing this time.

"Please clearly I'm the best one to hold the scroll!" Hitomi yelled.

"No, you get too weak to fast! You'll probably collapse and just let someone take it from you!" Kami screamed in return.

"No! You get too reckless in battle even Anko said so! You'll probably drop it somewhere when you're trying to hit someone but failing!" Hitomi growled back.

"You saying I'm the weak link in this team?! Last time I checked your gravity jutsu was pretty worthless!" Kami continued raising her fist in anger.

"Oh yeah?!" Hitomi did a hand sign and increased the pull on Kami's body so much that Kami just collapsed to the ground. "I'm keeping that scroll damn it!"

"In your dreams!" Kami yelled grabbing Hitomi's wrist and squeezing.

Shikamaru stood silent and scared for most of the argument until it started getting physical. "Alright stop it!" he yelled at them both.

The lightning that had been going between both girls eyes turned to Shikamaru and they both started attacking him.

"You're one to talk you asked if you could quit you giant moron!" Hitomi scolded.

"Yeah! You're going to be the one who gets this team disqualified!" Kami agreed standing up and joining in on the fight.

"I…uh…hey I just didn't want you two hurting each other!" Shikamaru said covering his face.

"That's enough you three!" Anko said walking up to them with two other Jounin following her. "Don't start arguing now you haven't even gotten the scroll yet. Come on I have faith in you guys. Just take a deep breath. I hope to see you all in the next portion of the exam." Anko said placing one of her hands on Hitomi's shoulder and her other hand on Kami's and looking them both in the eyes. "You two are best friends; don't fight over something so trivial." The two girls nodded apologizing. "And Shikamaru, keep them under control, I'm counting on you you hear?" Anko said placing both her hands on his shoulders. "Don't let me down guys; it would be a shame if a chunin examiner's own squad didn't pass." Anko said smiling before walking off.

"She's right." Hitomi said. "Let's go get our scroll."

The three of them walked into a tent and received an earth scroll in exchange for their consent forms. "Alright Hitomi, you keep the scroll." Kami said as they walked to their gate.

"No Kami, you're right I get too weak too fast. You're the strongest member you can protect it the best if someone comes up close to take it." Hitomi argued.

"But you're faster than I am. If they try taking it you can evade them easier." Kami said.

"Dear God, give me the scroll." Shikamaru said.

"Over my dead body!" Both girls yelled together.

"Geez okay, okay." Shika said backing off.

Hitomi took a deep breath. "No, he's right. He should have it. The fact is if another team comes up they'll see me as more of a team leader and assume I have it, and if I don't have it they would go for you Kami because you're strongest, but the reality is that they aren't going to assume Shika has it, especially not now that they all heard us arguing over it. If we give it to Shika it will be best protected." Hitomi explained tucking the scroll into his pocket smoothly. "We can switch off later if we need to. Shika guard that thing with your life."

"Man what a total drag, why did I even offer." He said dropping his head.

"Kami, I hate to say this, but stay close to him at all times. If someone comes close to him you need to be there to protect him and the scroll." Kami sighed but nodded her head knowing that was probably a good idea but still thinking she needed the scroll.

"Alright, all the teams have their scrolls, take your places at the gates and wait! When the gates open the test is on!" Anko yelled.

The three of them waited outside gate 21 while Rayne was over at 16. They needed to find a heaven scroll but they didn't want to have to take it from a friend; however the easiest targets would be genin from their own village and class. This test was not going to be an easy one.

"Alright listen up you maggots the second phase the chunin exams has begun!" Anko yelled signaling for the doors to open and everyone rushing inside.

They hadn't even been in the forest five minutes before Shikamaru spoke. "Guys be quiet. Hide." He said jumping into a bush as the two girls followed.

Another team jumped down out of the trees then, an older team from another town. Hitomi shook her head; they knew nothing about this team they weren't ready to take them on because they didn't know what to expect. Once the enemy team left they all sighed in relief and stood up.

"Five days of this is going to be such a drag." Shikamaru said rubbing his head. "I wonder if we will ever find a team with the right scroll that we can take down."

"Don't worry; I'm not prepared to fail." Hitomi said turning to face her other two comrades. "We need a plan." Hitomi whispered pulling Shika and Kami close. "Alright, basic plan should go something like this, help me out on this. Kami stay close to Shika, protect him with your life, because right now that scroll is our life. If things start going astray and they figure out Shika has the scroll, then we will trade off. Either Kami or I will take it depending on the situation. We'll start with that and go from there."

"Sounds good." Kami said. "We better get going."

"The longer we sit around the larger the chance we'll be ambushed." Shikamaru concurred.

The three of them traveled through the forest working their way towards the center wanting to be as close as possible to the central tower when the retrieved the second scroll. After coming close to the central tower they stopped to take a short break as it was getting darker out. Shikamaru sat down and leaned against the tree wanting a nap and Kami flopped onto the floor exhausted mentally and physically from the stress. Hitomi was tired as well, but she knew there was no time for them all to rest.

"Alright, take a break but other teams will be calling it a night soon, we might be able to get a scroll if we ambush them while they are asleep." Hitomi said.

"Hitomi can't we just take a break tonight? We have five days." Shika said.

"No, we have about four days left, and the sooner we get a heaven scroll the sooner we can get to that tower and relax without having to worry about anyone stealing our scroll or attacking us." Hitomi said.

"Just one day Hitomi, I just need one day." Kami said falling asleep.

"Alright fine, hand me the scroll Shika, you won't be able to defend it while you sleep." She said.

He handed her the scroll and she hid it in her shirt before lifting Kami onto her back. "Over there, there is a nice sized hole in that tree where the two of you can sleep." Hitomi said.

She placed Kami into the hole and Shikamaru lay down inside it as well falling asleep. Hitomi stayed up to keep watch, she knew if another team ambushed them while they slept they wouldn't stand a chance. She looked back constantly to make sure her teammates were okay, but she couldn't pull through she eventually fell asleep.

She jumped awake in the morning and looked around seeing Shika sitting outside the tree. "Shika." She said "When did you wake up?"

"You fell asleep a few hours ago and landed on me. I woke up and thought that the best thing for the team was to take the scroll back and keep watch letting you sleep. If we were to wake up and you hadn't slept at all we wouldn't stand a chance against enemies." Shika explained. "We better get going now that you're awake."

Hitomi nodded and shook Kami awake. Kami at least got some decent rest which was good because the team might need her later. Without wasting a second the three of them started moving again. It was still early so if they were lucky they might come across a group who was still asleep. Jumping through the trees they landed in a small clearing and Hitomi stopped them.

"Wait…something is off." She said looking around. "Shika look out!" She yelled jumping at him and pushing him over as a kunai flew and stabbing into her back right shoulder.

She yelled in pain, she wasn't fast enough; this looked bad, just then she looked over and heard Kami yell in pain as well. Kami jumped back but fell to a knee a kunai stabbed deeply into her leg. Shika looked around, Hitomi with a Kunai in her back Kami with one in her leg. They had been ambushed. Hitomi reached back and pulled the kunai out standing up. Kami reached for her Kunai as well, but Hitomi stopped her.

"Kami no don't! It's in too deep! Pulling it out will only make things worse." Hitomi said standing next to Kami Shika on her other side. "Alright come on out!" Hitomi yelled. Three hidden mist ninja stepped out then revealing themselves. "Hidden mist eh?"

"You three must be really stupid falling into our ambush huh." One of them said.

Shika turned around to see Hitomi's shoulder bleeding, quite a bit as well. Kami wouldn't be any use in her condition; she could hardly walk right now. Their plans had just been ruined, it was up to Shikamaru and Hitomi, Kami was out of the question for this battle. The three mist ninja surrounded them just laughing. The thing about these ninja, they looked older and tough, but they were full of themselves. They might underestimate Hitomi and Shika's abilities, and Kami might still be able to use Earth jutsu. They at least had a fighting chance.

"This should be a piece of cake." One of the mist ninja said laughing.

Hitomi crinkled her nose and looked at Shikamaru nodding. The good thing was that the enemy team had no idea of team Anko's skill set, however team Anko didn't have any clue of the enemy skill set either. Hitomi thought about what Anko said, she could end a battle in seconds if it went right, but her injured shoulder would impair her abilities. She didn't care she had to try.

Quickly she threw up her hand signs and tossed her palms up. "Forceful push!" she yelled pushing one of the enemies back into a tree making them hit their head and pass out. Alright one down, exactly what she was hoping for. "Now Shikamaru!" She yelled not seconds after releasing her own jutsu.

"Shadow possession jutsu." Shika said throwing his shadow out fast.

The first enemy dodged Shikamaru's shadow possession and the second enemy jumped back and threw numerous amounts of Kunai at the three of them. Kami wasn't going to stand by useless; she pulled the earth up out of the ground to protect her two comrades. The kunai stabbed intro the earth and the enemy growled in anger.

Hitomi turned around quickly and pulled her fist to the ground yanking the kunai throwing enemy down to the ground. The mist ninja were confused, what kind of jutsu was she using? Something they had never seen before, were they in some type of genjutsu? No, not a genjustu, but what then?

"Kami help Shikamaru!" Hitomi yelled realizing he was having trouble getting his shadow possession to be successful.

Kami watched the enemy as he jumped dodging the jutsu and throwing kunai at Shika, this guy wasn't using any jutsu of his own, maybe he didn't have any or maybe he was a close range fighter, if that was the case he didn't stand a chance, not with team Anko's skill set. As Kami watched and learned the enemy's moves she finally caught him, throwing up a wall of the earth right in the spot he was going to jump next. He hit it giving Shikamaru the split second he needed for his shadow possession to connect.

Good Hitomi just needed to take care of this last enemy before Shikamaru's jutsu wore off. "Search his pockets Shika, find the scroll." Hitomi demanded.

"Right!" he said making his enemy search his entire body for the scroll through his jutsu. "I found it! He has it!" Shikamaru said pulling his enemy's nice heaven scroll from his front jacket pocket.

Hitomi grinned as Shikamaru forced the opponent to toss his own scroll over to Kami who proceeded to hide it in her shirt. They had to do something about these last two enemies or they would never escape to the central tower. Shikamaru thought fast and using the earth wall Kami had created made his opponent smash his head against it knocking himself out and cutting his head open. That left one.

By now the last enemy had stood up and looked around. Seeing his two comrades collapsed on the ground he wasn't sure what to do. He stood motionless for too long and Kami wrapped the earth around his feet bringing it up his legs, making him become one with it. He couldn't move now, the earth was too strong luckily.

Hitomi shrugged. "Kami come on, we have to get you to safety you're losing too much blood."

She nodded as she tried to stand, but the kunai was buried too deep in her leg. Hitomi attempted to lift her but with her shoulder injury she couldn't. She looked at Shikamaru then begging him with her eyes to do this one thing just this one time so they could pass. The last thing either of the girls wanted was to be disqualified, they already felt stupid enough for falling into that trap when the enemies were such pushovers.

"Ugh, alright but this is a one-time thing, don't ever speak of it again you hear?" Shikamaru said lifting Kami into his arms and wrinkling his nose. "You are such a pain; I'd almost rather leave you there if my outcome wasn't dependent on whether or not you make it to the tower." Shikamaru said.

Kami just crossed her arms and looked away pretending that what was happening actually wasn't. She just wanted to get to the tower, she was feeling lightheaded. As they dashed off the last remaining enemy just yelled at them saying how they couldn't just leave him there. Team Anko just ignored him and ran off to the tower as fast as they could for two reasons. First off Shikamaru wanted Kami out of his hands, but Kami needed to get somewhere safe fast so Hitomi could try and tend to her wounds. Luckily they made it to the tower before all the other teams arrived to try and ambush them; they were in no condition for another ambush. Once they arrived in the tower Shikamaru sat Kami down quickly and walked off to be on his own mumbling about how he had to take care of her.

"Kami how many fingers am I holding up?" Hitomi asked holding three fingers.

"Wha- uh 12." Kami muttered,

"Oh great. Look I'm going to pull the kunai out, don't move around you'll only make things worse." Hitomi said.

Hitomi slowly pulled the kunai ignoring and drowning out Kami's cries of pain. She pulled a bandage out and quickly wrapped it around Kami's leg tying it tightly in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Once Kami was bandaged up she tried to get up.

"Stop it! Stay down, you need some rest. Let Shikamaru and I figure out what we need to do." Hitomi said pushing Kami back down. "Shikamaru, come help me." Hitomi said calling him over to a large piece of writing on the wall.

"What does it say?" Shikamaru asked.

"If qualities of heaven are you're desire acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If earthly qualities are what you lack train your body and prepare to attack. When heaven and earth are opened together the perilous path will be righteous forever. This…something…is the secret way the guides us from this place today." Hitomi said.

"This what?" Shikamaru asked confused.

"I don't know there seemed to be some jumbling of words but basically I think it has something to do with the scrolls. 'When heaven and earth are opened together the perilous path will be righteous forever.' That means we should open both scrolls together right?" Hitomi asked looking at Shikamaru.

"Your guess is as good as mine." He said shrugging.

"Alright Kami hand me the earth scroll and prepare to be ready for anything." Hitomi said holding her hand out to Kami.

Kami pulled the scroll from her shirt and handed it to Hitomi, sitting up and leaning against a wall. Shikamaru and Hitomi stood in front of the inscription and took a few deep breaths before nodding to each other. Slowly together they both opened the scrolls, suddenly smoke started pouring out of each scroll and the two of them threw both scrolls onto the ground not knowing what to expect when suddenly…

"Kakashi Sensei?" The three teammates said in sync.

"Long time so see." Kakashi said smiling. All three teammates sighed in relief. "Looks like you all made it. Also looks like you could use some good news you all look…" Kakashi stopped suddenly looking at Kami who was by now passed out. "She doesn't look too well."

"To be honest she isn't." Hitomi admitted. "The wound is deep and I think some of the major muscles in her leg were severed."

"Hmmm." Kakashi said walking over to Kami and feeling her forehead, she was starting to get a fever. "I probably shouldn't but it's for the sake of her life." Kakashi said pulling out some cleaning wipes, and new bandages. "Take these, you might need them later and don't let anyone else know you have them or where you got them understood?" Kakashi said handing the things to Hitomi. "Now aside from that I'm pleased to inform you that you all passed the second exam." Kakashi said smiling as he began cleaning Kami's wound.

"So Kakashi, what does all that stuff on the wall mean?" Hitomi asked.

"Oh that? Well, let me explain. The first part is talking about your mind. If qualities of heaven are what you desire acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. Basically, if your weakness lies in your intellect work twice hard to make sure you learn all the skills needed for a mission. The second part, if earthly qualities are what you lack train your body and prepare for attack. It means exactly what it says; the earth is your body and physically abilities. If you are lacking in the physical strength then train your body twice as hard so that each day you are getting better. It heaven and earth are opened together the perilous path will become righteous forever, meaning if you mind and body work together as one then any mission can become an easy one, any mission can be accomplished." Kakashi explained.

"So what about that blank part?" Hitomi asked.

"Well that's for you to fill in on your own." Kakashi said smiling.

"Ugh well that was a waste." Shikamaru complained crossing his arms.

"Who cares, we passed right?" Hitomi said tying up Kami's wound again.

"Just take this piece of advice, on the third exam, don't push it too hard. If Kami wants to go on, keep her in check. You too Hitomi, take care of that wound, Shikamaru don't let them go too far." Kakashi ordered.

"Oh right, my shoulder." Hitomi said.

"I'll handle it Kakashi sensei." Shikamaru said. "Don't worry about it."

Kakashi nodded and then disappeared. Hitomi sighed. "Here, I'll take care of your wound." Shikamaru said taking some leftover cleaning wipes. "You'll have to…you know move your clothes." He said rubbing his head embarrassed.

Hitomi blushed slightly but pulled the top of her dress down revealing her bare back, but still trying to keep her chest covered. "You don't have to do this; I can have someone else help me." Hitomi said.

"Don't be stupid. You saved me back there, pushing me out of the way, the least I can do is help patch up the wound you got in doing so." Shikamaru said cleaning her cut. Luckily it wasn't very deep, not like Kami's.

Once they were done and patched up they made their way inside the tower, dragging Kami along, where Rayne's team along with those sand village ninja were waiting. When Kami eventually woke her leg was starting to feel better but Hitomi still wouldn't let her stand up. She didn't know what sort of serious injury she could have, she needed proper medical treatment, but she wasn't going to get it as long as she continued on with the exams.

"Kami don't move." Hitomi argued.

"She's right; the injury could get worse if you move around too much." Rayne concurred, her dog laying its head on Kami's good leg.

"I'd listen to your friends." The sand ninja girl said.

"Who are you to talk?" Kami snapped

"Well, my name is Temari, and if you don't want to die I say that you keep that fat mouth of yours shut you little brat." Temari snapped back.

"You women are all the same." Shikamaru said.

"I see they have you whipped don't they." Temari said to Shikamaru. "You probably do whatever they say don't you. Running around with them all day you probably have become a girl yourself."

"What did you say?!" Shikamaru yelled Kami just laughing keeping out of it. "I'm no girl, and they don't have me whipped!" Shikamaru argued.

"Whatever the matter, if you want to live little girl I say don't move that leg." Temari said to Kami before walking back to her teammates. Kami gasped as she followed Temari with her eyes and realized that the small redheaded kid, Gaara, was just glaring at her. Why was he looking at her like that, like he wanted to kill her?

Chapter 5

Team Anko had finished the exam a few days early so they had a few days to rest and recover before their next exam. After the five day mark passed all the remaining shinobi gathered in a room with Anko, the Hokage, and many other chunin and jounin and every team's sensei.

"First of all congratulations on passing the second exam!" Anko yelled surprised by just how many of them had made it. She was expecting there to be less than half of what there was now. There were so many ninja left they were going to have to hold a preliminary exam just to thin the numbers.

"Alright listen up I'm going to explain the third exam to you." Sarutobi said. "Listen closely. First I want to explain what these exams are all about. These exams aren't just to strengthen the individual Shinobi and strengthen friendship between allied nations; these exams represent the battle between the allied nations. These exams originally began back when the allied nations were simply nations that lived close to one another. They constantly fought for power over each other, but as to not threaten lives of innocent people each nation would select champions, great ninja, to fight for their nation in a mutually selected location. That is how these exams first began. The point of these exams are not just to find shinobi worth of becoming chunin, it is to allow each shinobi to carry the pride of their village on their back, to prove themselves being worthy to protect this village. It's because these exams make you all put your life on the lines that makes them have meaning. It gives each nation the opportunity to show its true power through its shinobi and in the end determine exactly where it will stand when it comes to making arrangements with other nations. Ultimately these exams prove which nations carry the greatest power over their shoulders and it gives other nations the opportunity to see these powers and learn about each nations potential for combat." Sarutobi explained.

Hitomi understood but to her these exams didn't bring opposing nations closer together. Shinobi died out there during that second exam, people who could still be considered children died, even Kami was on the edge when they finished. These exams were meant to show the true potential of each nation, meant for shinobi to prove themselves, but letting people get killed without there being any consequences at all didn't seem right, but that didn't matter now. It would be no use arguing why or why not the exams should be done differently; she just had to realize that during these exams she could lose her life. She had become a ninja for a reason, to protect the village and the people she loved, she wouldn't give up now, that would be embarrassing.

"Alright I'm going to tell you all what you're going to be doing in the third exam…" Sarutobi began.

"Please lady Hokage, before you do allow me, Hiate Ghetcko, proctor of the third exam to speak." Hiate said.

"Very well." Sarutobi agreed.

"It's nice to meet you all. There is something I would like all of you to do before the third exam. We have to have a preliminary exam before we can move on to the real one." Hiate explained.

"A what?! Preliminary! Just what do you mean by that?!" Shikamaru exclaimed.

"What's this about? Why can't we just move on to the third exam?" Hitomi asked adjusting Kami's arm on her shoulder. She could walk, but she didn't want to push it.

"Uh, well you see. The fact is we never expected there to be this many of you left after the first two exams. According to the rules of the exams a preliminary round can be held at any time in order to reduce the number of candidates remaining. It's just that at this stage we have to speed things up a bit. A lot of important people from each nation will be watching and we can't afford to waste their time. They've come to see only the very best. So if any of you feel you're not in top physical condition now is your chance to bow out. The preliminaries will be starting immediately." Hiate said.

Hitomi looked at Kami. "Kami are you sure you want to do this? You can always quit and come back next time."

"No, I'm not giving up. If we get eliminated in the preliminary round then so be it, but I won't just quit." Kami argued.

Hitomi nodded. "So the exams are starting….now?" she asked.

"Yes" Hiate said, "The winners will be determined by one on one combat sudden death. So like I said if there is anyone who doesn't feel up to it now is the time to raise your hand."

Kami growled, one on one combat, could she do it? She figured it would be another team exam and she would rely on Hitomi and Shikamaru. She placed her bad leg, her right one, onto the ground and tried putting her weight on it. Those three days she had to heal no doubt helped, she wouldn't stand a chance if her injury had happened on the last day, most the teams had barely had any time to recover, most of them hadn't arrived until the final day of the second exam.

"I'll be alright Hitomi, I can walk." She said pulling her leg back up not wanting to push her injury before she got into battle.

"If you're sure, I can't stop you. If we are doing one on one combat then just know if you drop out you won't hurt Shika and I alright." Hitomi said. "I can't have you dying out there, the second you don't feel you can take it you quit okay." Hitomi demanded

Kami growled at her. "Fine."

The proctor looked at her, he couldn't force her to quit but he knew she should. Gaara glared over at Kami, he couldn't help but thinking about how pathetic she was. How could she possibly be thinking about going on with this? He didn't care she would be an easy target to deal with. Killing her would be pleasurable.

Shikamaru thought for a moment, this whole thing was a drag should he quit? "Oh and Shikamaru? Don't even think about raising that hand just because you don't want to battle. Of our team you're the best fitted to move on. Don't lose your motivation now." Hitomi said looking back at him. His eyes widened, oh God she could read minds now.

After a few members dropped out and quit the exams Hiate spoke again. "Alright there are 26 of you left. That means 13 matches, the winners of these 13 matches will move on to the third exam. As far as the rules there are none. You will fight until one dies, conceives defeat, or is rendered physically incapable of continuing the contest. Naturally, those who are losing should conceive defeat early as to avoid a fatal outcome. Furthermore, as proctor I'm given a certain amount of leeway in judging the matches, so I might occasionally intervene if a match seems hopeless, I want to save as many lives as possible. Now it's time to reveal what match ups have been chosen."

Anko looked at her team, at Kami and Hitomi. Why hadn't they quit? Anko was so afraid they were going to die in their condition but she couldn't do anything, her team knew their own limits better than she did, so instead she just sighed softly and looked at the matches. "Open the panel." She said as part of the wall opened.

"The names of each pair of opponents are chosen completely at random, before each match you will see the names on the display behind me. Guess there is nothing more to say, in a moment the names of the first two opponents will appear." Hiate said turning to see the screen.

A few matches took place, Sasuke winning the first, Shino second, and then Kankuro. The nest battle was Sakura and Ino, it looked intense but in the end both girls knocked each other out neither of them passing. The next battle was Temari and Ten Ten. The whole room had only gotten a taste of Kankuro's puppet abilities, as his battle had ended in seconds, perhaps they could learn more about this girl.

Temari and Ten Ten stepped out into the fighting arena, Ten Ten waiting for Temari to make the first move. Finally after Temari demanded Ten Ten to go first the battle begun. Ten Ten threw everything she had at Temari using her scrolls to summon countless amount of weapons, but Temari had somehow blocked all of them. Finally Temari removed her fan on her back. One moon showing, Ten Ten attacked, two moons and as Temari swung her fan a giant gust of wind deflected all of Ten Ten's blows, finally the third moon as Ten Ten pulled out her last resort. Not only did Temari deflect every single weapon thrown at her she created a cyclone of wind catching Ten Ten in it making her unable to move. The battle was over, Ten Ten was done for. Lee in anger jumped down to defend Ten Ten, but trying to attack Temari failed miserably.

"You know what; you're as dumb as you look." Temari said to Lee deflecting his kick with her fan.

"What did you say?!" Lee said angrily.

"Lee no stop!" Guy sensei said jumped down to Lee's side.

"Temari." Gaara said from up above the fight standing next to Kankuro. "Forget them; the match is over so get up here. You won, why are you wasting your time with that pathetic loser and his ridiculous mentor?" Gaara demanded glaring down at Temari.

Kami and Hitomi just watched Gaara from the distance, he hadn't fought yet, they could easily be paired with him and with the performance of the first two sand village ninja they couldn't expect anything less from Gaara. Neither of them could probably take Kankuro or Temari and they had no clue what to expect from Gaara either, then Hitomi remembered that Shika hadn't gone yet either, the numbers were thinning what if they had to go up against each other? It wasn't against the rules, they were in one on one combat now, and the teams didn't matter any longer.

Anko finally appeared behind the three of them. "How are you Kaminari?" She asked.

"I'll be alright; I just want to know who I'm going up against." She said looked at the screen began shuffling the remaining names. Kami growled in frustration when Shikamaru's name appeared, he would be going up against Tsuchi Kin, a sound ninja.

"Guess it's me." He said walking down to the fighting arena and meeting his opponent.

"You'll get your turn Kami." Hitomi said.

"The longer I wait the better chance I'll have to fight that other sand ninja, and he already looks like he wants me dead." She said looking over at him to see him glaring right back at her.

"You'll be fine." Hitomi said focusing on Shikamaru's battle. "Come on Shikamaru! You've got this!"

"Oh man this is such a drag, give me a break I've got to fight some girl?" Shikamaru complained.

"Yeah you just keep thinking that way little boy." The girl said glaring at him.

"Shut up!" He yelled at her. "Shadow possession jutsu!" he said tossing his shadow across the floor towards her.

She dodged tossing needles at him with bells, why did she have the bells on them? Hitomi wondered that only made Shikamaru aware of where her attacks were coming from, unless she was using needles with bells to mask needles without bells, of course it didn't take long for Shikamaru to figure this out.

"Bells? Not that old trick, let me guess next time you'll throw some needles with bells and needles without bells at the same time, I'll react to the bells and while I'm focused on dodging the ones with bells I won't notice the silent ones coming at me, am I right?" Shikamaru said smirking.

"You sure talk a lot don't you?!" Tsuhi said throwing more needles.

"Now I just know to dodge all the needles you throw at me, not just the ones with the bells." He said dodging her next attack. Just after that he heard bells ringing. Confused he turned around, the previous attack needles had stuck in the wall and she was now using threads to jingle the bells distracting him. "Oh man!" he yelled turning back too late as Tsuchi threw more needles hitting him in the arm. "Man one inch higher and that would've been a fatal hit! Okay now I get a turn!"

"Sorry that was your turn!" Tsuchi said jingling her bells again making him disoriented. "See, you don't ever ask for who the bell tolls, because it tolls for thee. This bell sends off a peculiar sound vibration that travels to the outer and inner ear then directly to the brain. First it will be paralysis and then you'll start hallucinating." She said laughing as Shikamaru groaning dropping to his knees and covering his ears. "It won't work you can't block the sound once it's in your ears."

Shikamaru started hallucinating then seeing multiple Tsuchi's. "I can't tell which one of them is the real one." He said

"You can't move your arms or legs and even if you could you wouldn't know which one of us to throw your shadow at, face it it's all over." Tsuchi said.

"You think it's that easy huh?" Shikamaru answered.

She glared at him throwing more needles; he couldn't tell which needles were real. Quickly he held his arms up to block them letting all three needles hitting his arms. "That was only three, next time I'll throw five, and each time a few more until you end up looking like a hedgehog." Tsuchi said laughing manically.

"Stop playing games why don't you?" Shikamaru said. "If you're so tough get it over with, stop wasting my time." He complained, typical Shikamaru, if he was going to lose he may as well make it fast so he didn't have to work as hard.

"Oh I'm sorry, you aren't a fan of my slow and painful method? Fine suit yourself, we'll do it the quick way, and painful!" she said attempting to throw more needles. "Wait what happened! I can't move my arm!" she said.

Shikamaru grinned. "Heh, looks like my lame shadow jutsu was a success after all."

"What, but you didn't throw any shadows I was watching!" Tsuchi said.

"What you still don't see it? Look at that thread you're holding, you don't find it a little strange that it would even cast a shadow at this height?" Shikamaru said indicating to the threads she had used to jingle her bells on the wall behind him. "Of course you didn't notice it; you were concentrating on other things like killing me. I stretched my shadow out all the way along the line of that thread and now I'm attached to you." Shikamaru said grinning.

"Great so now we mimic each other's movements, cute trick but what do you gain by it?" Tsuchi asked.

"Man, you're annoying just shut up and watch." Shikamaru said rolling his eyes. Typical woman he thought to himself, always asking questions aren't they. He reached into his pack and pulled out a shuriken causing her to pull one out as well.

"What are you doing?! If you throw that at me you'll just be attacking yourself are you crazy?!" Tsuchi yelled.

"Yeah, just like a game of chicken let's see who ducks first!" Shikamaru yelled throwing the shuriken. One shuriken flew at Tsuchi and another at Shikamaru, right before it hit him he leaned back dodging it, making her lean back as well however she was standing right in front of a wall and proceeded to smash her head against it knocking herself out. "Now that's what I call using your head." Shikamaru said flipping backwards back onto his feet. "A wise shinobi carefully examines the battle field and he never forgets his position on it that was your problem. I kept her so busy she didn't realize the wall just inches behind her head and when we both leaned back…kabong! Now who's hearing bells?" He said rubbing his head and smiling letting a laugh out.

"Winner of the sixth match Shikamaru." Hiate said and team Anko sighed in relief.

"You feel pretty proud of yourself don't you? Taking down a sound ninja like that, someone we have no intel on." Hitomi said when Shikamaru walked back up to meet his team.

"Maybe a little bit." Shikamaru said.

"Don't be so full of yourself." Kami said glaring at him.

Naruto and Kiba fought the next battle, Rayne standing alongside watching with her hands in front of her face, her fingers entangled in each other fidgeting and praying Kiba won. When the battle begun everyone thought Kiba had won, but Naruto was a determined boy and in the end he came out on top by using his transformation jutsu's and of course his shadow clones. Everyone was so surprised, Rayne was just upset, but it didn't matter to Hitomi or Kami, they had to be coming up soon.

The names for the next match ran across the screen, Hitomi Natsuki and Takara Zumataru. Hitomi gasped, it was her turn. She let go of Kami letting her rest against Anko or on the floor. Walking down to the arena she realized she was facing the exact girl who had thrown the kunai at her, the girl who she had taken out so quickly last time they fought. She and her team seemed like such pushovers how did they even manage to get two more scrolls and pass the second exam? The girl looked just as frightened to see Hitomi, remembering what had happened. The girl didn't even know how Hitomi had defeated her, she was afraid of what to expect.

"Alright are you both ready?" Hiate asked. Hitomi nodded glaring at the girl who gulped and nodded as well. "Very well, then begin."

Hitomi instantly pulled out three kunai throwing them at Takara who managed to dodge jumping backwards away from her and into the air. Suddenly the room became foggy. Hidden mist jutsu, it was expected for a mist ninja to know the hidden mist jutsu. The whole room gasped unable to see anything. Hitomi focused, she focused on her reflexes, her evasion, if she couldn't see the enemy she would never land a hit with her gravity style.

Jumping to her left quickly she threw a kunai putting gravitational force behind it throwing it twice as fast. She hadn't seen her enemy, only the mist swirling and moving where her opponent was moving. She was fast and dodged the attack just in time and countered with the kunai. Hitomi heard Takara groan, had she hit her?

Hitomi ran searching for Takara in the mist, when suddenly the mist started to fade. She looked down and saw blood on the ground, so she had hit her. When the mist faded she couldn't see Takara. Left right, up then she saw her flying down from the air at her landing a blow from her foot right on Hitomi's shoulder wound. Hitomi groaned in pain and fell to the ground. It felt like her shoulder blade had just been broken, maybe dislocated. Takara laughed pulling the kunai out of her side and throwing it at Hitomi.

Hitomi sent a shockwave of energy back at the kunai deflecting it and knocking Takara down. Hitomi yelled in pain, her right shoulder, that was her dominant arm and it was hard to move like that without sever pain. She stood up anyway.

"So that's how you want to play is it? Playing off an enemy's clear weak point, well that's a cheap strategy." Hitomi said holding her shoulder, it had been just dislocated she realized then. She took a breath and yanked her shoulder hard popping it back into place with a cry of pain, the cut on her back had reopened and was bleeding but that wasn't important.

Takara made fists and growled in anger, jumping in the air. "A thousand needles of death!" she yelled throwing her hands out.

The mist that she had created had left the room damp and wet; she used this to create needles of ice and flung them at Hitomi. Hitomi gasped throwing up a small barrier to protect her deflecting all of the needles. Takara landed back on the ground and yelled in frustration, what was this jutsu! Hitomi released her barrier and looked at Takara. Takara had one more jutsu up her sleeve but this was her last shot, if she used this she would be using nearly all her chakra, after all she was just a genin.

Hitomi grinned; her barrier didn't take as much Chakra as usual anymore. "Come on show me what you've got! That thousand needles of death trick was pretty good, just not good enough I guess."

Takara's anger got the best of her. "Alright take this! Giant vortex jutsu!" she yelled as he water from the thousand needles began swirling around Hitomi.

"Oh no…" Hitomi said as the first get of water hit her, it was closing in, like a cyclone, she couldn't see a way out. She held her arms up, "force barrier!" she said repeating the barrier she had made before.

The force of the water on the barrier was so strong, Hitomi knew she couldn't hold it off for long, she had to do something. She placed her hand on the floor then, maybe, maybe if she could get a good shot at Takara she could make her lose her focus and the water vortex would subside. She just needed a clear shot. She needed to see her.

The vortex just kept swirling, it would've crushed her with its pressure by now had she not been protecting herself. Quickly Hitomi began send short bursts of energy into the vortex looking for the general position that Takara was in. Finally she found her; Takara was sweating and breathing heavily rage in her eyes. She was getting exhausted but Hitomi didn't think she could hold the vortex off long enough, it was already fading; she was running low on Chakra now as well. Hitomi placed her hand on the floor once more and quickly before her barrier gave out sent out trembling gravitational forces increasing and decreasing the force as it went setting Takara off balance.

There it was working, Hitomi increased the force of her waves and when the stronger force hit Takara it was as if it tripped her knocking her down. Finally the vortex subsided and Hitomi lay on the floor motionless for a moment, she was so weak now. She had saved her life, but she wasn't sure if she could win this battle.

Takara stood up but only for a moment before she collapsed. She had overdone it; the vortex she used took up way too much chakra for a genin, even a genin as old as Takara was compared to Hitomi. The two of them looked at each other for a moment, Takara's knowledge of jutsu was vast but what was the point of knowing all those types of attacks if she didn't have the chakra to sustain hardly one.

Hitomi looked over as Hiate began to walk into the center. "Wait!" Kami yelled stopping. "It's not over yet!"

Hiate looked back at both girls on the ground just as Hitomi stood up using only her left arm. She knew if she just won this battle she could get medical treatment, all she needed was to win. Takara began to stand up then as well, much slower than Hitomi had, they had both used a lot of Chakra but Hitomi's was only a defense jutsu, she still had enough Chakra left to spare.

"What's the point of all that jutsu if you can't even sustain one attack?!" Hitomi yelled pushing Takara back against the wall with using her jutsu. "Surrender now!" Hitomi said pulling a kunai with both hands. She knew her chances of missing with both hands were good, but if she threw two kunai they were raised a little. "If you don't, I'll kill you right here. You and your team nearly killed my friend you know!" Hitomi yelled raising her kunai then walking closer to Takara increasing her chances of landing a hit. Takara stayed silent, "Surrender damn it!" Hitomi yelled one last time, she didn't want to get too close, who knew if Takara had something up her sleeve.

"Alright, I give." Takara finally said dropping her head.

Hitomi sighed and fell to her knees grabbing her shoulder in pain but still grinning. Both girls were taken off to the infirmary after that and so Hitomi missed the next match; however Hinata and Neji had been after her. Hinata had been badly injured when she came in; she had gone into cardiac arrest after Neji's gentle fist, in other words Neji won, but Hinata put up a good fight.

Things were getting intense after that, someone still had to fight Gaara. Kami looked over at him and she must've felt her gaze because he glared right back, the look in his eyes, he wanted blood. Kami nearly fainted scared for her life, she had pretty much said to herself that if she had to fight him she may as well just give up, she didn't even know what kind of jutsu he had but if Temari and Kankuro were that scared of him and they were as good as Kami had seen she would never stand a chance against Gaara, not like she was. She looked over to see Kankuro walking to her.

"Hey, so what's your story? Why are you even still here?" He asked.

Who did he think he was just walking over to her and talking? "Why don't you just go away." Kami demanded looking down at the arena.

"Well I was just curious, that last guy, Neji, seemed pretty strong what's up with him?" Kankuro asked.

"Like I would know." Kami responded.

"Well what about that friend of yours that fought that water style girl? That looked like an unfair fight, a genin using jutsu like that." Kankuro said.

"Hey, Kankuro is it?" Kami asked looking at him with dark eyes, her voice rumbling in anger.

"Uh yeah…" Kankuro said being reminded too well of Gaara.

"Don't take this the wrong way or anything but…I don't like you!" Kami yelled. "Now why don't you scuffle your fat ass back over to your team members before I kill you!" Kami yelled angrily. She knew all too well if it came to it she would probably lose to him, but she didn't want to think that way. Someday she was sure she would kick his ass and that was all that mattered.

Kankuro just blinked in surprise then shuddered, she sounded just like Gaara no wonder he was keeping such a close eye on her. Quickly he made his way back over to Temari and Gaara not saying a word when they asked what Kami had said. Kami watched him walk back to Gaara and then watched as Gaara looked at her, she didn't know what Kankuro said, but she didn't like the look in Gaara's eyes anymore, he was starting to piss her off. She wrinkled her nose and looked away, back to the screen as the next matches' names scrolled revealing Gaara and Rock Lee to be the next match. She was angry, she wanted to fight Gaara now, but she knew it was for the best that she wasn't, not yet at least.

If Lee beat Gaara kami might feel bad about punching him earlier, but probably not. The fight started right away and as Lee ran to attack sand appeared in front of Gaara blocking Lee's attack then the sand sprang after Lee trying to attack him. Every kick every attack Lee made even throwing his kunai, the sand automatically blocked each attack, as if the sand was a living thing by itself.

"That's an interesting jutsu." Kami said watching intently. "Is that why Gaara completed every mission without a scratch, the sand just protects him and attacks all by itself." Kami said aloud.

"Is that all?" Gaara said. "I hope you haven't finished entertaining me. We haven't had enough…blood." He said as the sand flew after Lee grabbing on his leg and tossing him around the room.

Lee stood up, he wasn't quitting not yet. He ran after Gaara attacking and attacking, but it was no use. "Why does Lee use nothing but Taijutsu? Obviously that is never going to work." Shikamaru observed.

"It would perhaps be in his best interest to stand back and use some ninjutsu." Anko concurred.

"That might be a good idea that is if he had any ninjutsu. Lee had no ninjutsu or genjutsu skills at all." Guy sensei said walking over to the remaining portion of Team Anko.

"What? You aren't serious. Even I have ninjutsu though I don't use it as often." Kami said looking back down at the fight.

The sand was doing Gaara's bidding like some kind of demon, flying after Lee tripping him once it got under his feet. Lee was fast but the sand was faster, the ultimate defense. Gaara's eyes followed Lee as he flew through the air just missing a crushing attack; Gaara hadn't looked at someone with that look since he started these exams, not even Kankuro or Kami. Then Lee had just removed what seemed to be 100lb leg weights they made such big indents and so much smoke when they, he might even be able to move fast enough to get past all that sand.

Dashing to attack, Lee nearly broke through the sand defense getting less than inches from Gaara's face. He was fast enough, if he kept it up he might actually get a hit on Gaara, the sand couldn't generate fast enough to block Lee's entire hit, his fists and feet were slipping through the defense only being stopped at the last second. The look on Gaara's face changed then. He was confused; no one had ever come this close to actually hitting him before.

"Now you see, Lee doesn't need ninjutsu or genjutsu because he focused all his time and hard work on his taijutsu turning his disadvantage into a blessing only to become the world's best taijutsu master." Guy sensei said grinning as Lee flew through the air and suddenly from above dropped down and landed a kick right on Gaara's face cutting his cheek.

"Woah no way!" Kami yelled leaning over the ledge wanting a closer view her leg still held off the ground.

Lee was moving too fast for Gaara to see, neither the sand or Gaara could keep up, Lee landed another punch in Gaara's face knocking Gaara to the ground causing sand to pour out of his gourd everywhere. Pieces of sand began falling then, off Gaara's face.

"What the hell! His face is falling off!" Kami yelled.

"It looks like he encased himself in his sand for some type of protection." Shikamaru observed.

"That look on his face…it's….it's even worse than his other looks." Kami said looking down at Gaara's face as his eyes widened and an evil and maniacal smile appeared on his face. "It's like the devil."

Sand began covering Gaara again recovering him in sand. All the hits Lee had landed hadn't even made the slightest impact. Kami watched as Lee unwrapped his bandages from his arms and began circling around Gaara at insane speed, what was he doing? Out of nowhere Lee kicked Gaara in the chest once shooting him slightly off the ground then a second time making him fly into the air, kicking over and over again. Once Gaara was high enough Lee's bandages wrapped around him and the both of them began spinning and spinning faster and faster.

"Primary Lotus!" Lee yelled smashing Gaara into the ground jumping away seconds before impact.

Everyone's mouths dropped but everyone had thought Lee won seeing Gaara in the rubble on the ground his armor cracked all over. Even Kankuro and Temari thought Gaara had lost, but seconds later Gaara's body crumbled to pieces.

"What is that?! Some type of sand clone?!" Kami yelled tightening her grip on the ledge. What was this guy? If he had been part of the leaf village she would probably admire his incredible power however he wasn't he was a sand village shinobi and he was out to kill everyone it seemed like.

Gaara reappeared behind Lee laughing demonically sand flying out from him in all directions attacking Lee one hit after another. A wave of sand smashing him against the wall followed but hit after hit Lee couldn't take it. Lee's lotus had taken too much out of him, he was too weak to dodge anything now, the lotus was forbidden and there was a reason. The physical strain of the lotus left Lee barely able to move at all, the fight was over. There was no way Lee could win now.

"There's no way he can win!" Kami yelled.

"Win? He'll be lucky to get out alive." Shikamaru said shaking his head.

Lee didn't stand a chance as Gaara's sand flew at him in waves. "Why doesn't he just give up?" Kami asked.

"Lee doesn't know how to give up." Guy said. "He will struggle on long after the point where anyone else would quit." Finally as Gaara attempted to hit Lee once more Lee moved out of the way, somehow he was able to move again, and quickly. "You see the lotus of the leaf village blooms twice." Guy said.

"No Guy you didn't." Kakashi said angrily butting into the conversation.

"Oh yes Kakashi I did." Guy responded.

"So you mean…that boy…that genin can open the eight inner gates and use the hidden lotus?" Kakashi said surprised. "If that isn't the most…" Kakashi trailed off angrily. "Alright, then how many of the eight inner gates can he open now!" Kakashi demanded.

"Five gates." Guy said.

"Kakashi, what are the eight inner gates, and this hidden lotus?" Shikamaru asked.

"The eight gates are like valves, or chakra limiters that must be opened in order to release the hidden lotus." Guy answered.

"So what exactly does that mean?" Shikamaru asked.

"There are gates throughout the body indicated at the places in the body where Chakra is most potent. Starting in the head they are: the gate of opening, rest, life, pain, closing, joy, shock, and finally ending in the heart the gate of death. The purposes of these gates are to limit the flow of chakra though the body, but the lotus exerts too much pressure on the gates forcing them open resulting in a person's strength being able to increase tenfold or more." Kakashi explained.

"The primary lotus that you have just seen Lee use only opens the first gate, the gate of opening. This gate releases the brains restraints on the muscles bringing a person's body strength to its full extent." Guy said.

"So wait a minute, what happens if he takes it farther? The first gate left him almost unable to move." Kami asked.

"Exactly, by opening all eight gates you could obtain unimaginable power, the only drawback is…you die." Kakashi said. "I don't know what this boy means to you Guy but I never thought you were capable of something like this."

"You have no right! You don't know anything about him!" Guy said.

Kami stopped listening then, she just kept looking at the battle, the argument between Kakashi and Guy was none of her concern. She just wanted to know how the battle would end, it was becoming too intense. Just as she was watching, Lee's face turned bright red, his hair stood up and his whole body became covered in chakra. The force being exerted was so powerful, it was…more powerful than anything she or anyone else competing had seen, but it was also extremely dangerous.

Hitomi ran up toward Kami and Shikamaru then her shoulder and arm wrapped for caution. She was speechless at what she was witnessing. "What is going on?!" She yelled.

"Hitomi you're alright." Shikamaru and Kami said seeing her.

"Don't worry about me, what's going on with Lee?!" she yelled worried.

"Something about the eight inner gates." Kami said looking at the battle.

"He just opened the third gate, the gate of life. Now he'll attack." Kakashi said.

"Not just yet." Guy argued.

"The eight inner gates?" Hitomi asked. She had read about it somewhere before. The eight inner gates, controlling the flow of chakra, if Lee has just opened the third gate that meant. "Can someone of his level even handle that kind of power?!" Hitomi exclaimed.

She watched as lee proceeded to open the fourth gate, moving so quickly that a shockwave flew across the room destroying half the floor. He kicked Gaara from underneath landing a hit on his chin and throwing him into the air, the hit was so hard that one hit by itself was enough to break Gaara's sand armor. The send flew up in an attempt to protect Gaara but Lee was too fast, kicking Gaara in the stomach then the back everywhere, he was too fast to keep track of.

"His muscles are tearing themselves apart!" Kakashi exclaimed as Lee opened the fifth gate and flew down punching Gaara in the stomach pulling him back and hitting him once more knocking him into the ground.

Lee rolled out from the smoke that was created; he looked like he couldn't move. "Lee!" Hitomi yelled, he may have been annoying but she sure as heck didn't want him to die.

Both she and Kami looked back at Gaara who had cushioned his fall by turning his gourd into sand. Gaara sent his sand towards Lee, he couldn't move, he couldn't escape. The sand wrapped around Lee's left leg and arm and…

"Sand coffin." Gaara said crushing Lee's limbs under the sand.

"No Lee! Look out!" Hitomi yelled as Gaara sent sand to cover Lee's entire immobile body.

Luckily Guy sensei stood in the way just looking at Gaara. Suddenly Gaara grabbed his head, almost as in pain. "Why save him? He failed?"

"Because he's…he's my student and also because he is precious to me." Guy sensei said.

"He's precious to him? A student?!" Temari exclaimed from across the room.

"I quit." Gaara said.

"What he quit?!" Kami yelled.

"It doesn't matter; it's too late for Lee. He lost the match the minute Guy intervened." Kakashi said.

Everyone gasped just then as Lee stood up on his broken leg, his broke arm hanging lifelessly from his body yet Lee held a hand up ready to battle. Guy sensei began crying upon seeing Lee standing there, Lee wasn't even awake.

"Lee!" Hitomi yelled going to jump over the ledge.

"No don't Hitomi. There is nothing you can do for him now." Kakashi said stopping her. "There are times when sympathetic words only make things worse." Hitomi shook her head and climbed back off the ledge.

Hitomi watched as they took Lee away on a stretcher, but Kami watched Gaara instead. After seeing that battle her rage towards him was only fired up more. Gaara looked up at her and grinned evilly, they would no doubt fight someday.

The battle may have been intense, but it was over now and there were still more candidates to participate. The names rolled across the board, only a few left. Kami, Rayne, Choji, another sound ninja, another and two other mist ninja. When the names stopped it was Kami's turned and a certain Reizo Zumataru, he was Takara's brother, and he was another mist ninja, more specifically the one who stabbed the kunai into Kami's leg, the leader of the group. What were the odds?

"You." Kami said glaring at him as he walked down into the arena.

"Kami are you okay to go?" Anko asked.

"Trust me Anko, I'll be fine." She said finally putting her leg on the ground.

All that time letting her leg rest, all her adrenaline rushing after the last battle, she was going to pummel this guy to a pulp. She walked down into the arena ignoring all pain in her leg. She didn't hear a word anyone was saying once she got onto the floor except the word begin.

Reizo threw kunai at her, she growled running and dodging them all dashing her way up to him. She was the one she had buried in the earth, how had he even escaped.

"Guess you didn't learn your lesson the first time!" Kami yelled pulling her fist back.

Reizo's eyes widened when he saw her fist, she had fused all her chakra into it and now it was raging with blue chakra as it swung through the air and smashed into Reizo's face breaking his nose along with knocking him all the way across the room and into the wall making an indent.

"You almost got me killed!" she yelled rushing at him again.

He just barely got out of the wall before she smashed another hit into it, she could've ended him right there. She turned to face him fire burning in her eyes, this guy was from the hidden mist, no doubt he had water jutsu as well, good thing she had earth nature, earth always won out in a battle with water. Reizo focused as water began forming in his hands, he had to have had insane chakra control to perform such a feat, not that it mattered, Kami was ready to end the fight already.

She rushed up to him to attack but before she even realized she was in a water prison. "You're so reckless; you're just running around the arena not even thinking aren't you?" Reizo said laughing at her imprisonment, in the water prison she couldn't breathe.

She laughed internally, had he forgotten her earth jutsu already? She sank into the ground disappearing rendering his water prison useless. He had no idea where she was now; being underground may as well have been like saying she was invisible. Underground she once more fused her chakra into her fist then seconds later burst up through the earth smashing her fist into his chin breaking his jaw now as well. As he lay on the ground helpless blood gushing from his nose and mouth, teeth falling out she looked down at her leg, the wound had reopened and she was bleeding profusely.

"Looks like it's time to end this battle." She said grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and lifting him up to his knees. "You made a poor choice underestimating me. You think I really just ran around not thinking? Maybe it appeared that way, but that only worked to my advantage you worthless little shit." She said raising her fist. "It's time you die."

"No wait I give!" Reizo yelled closing his eyes and flinching away, or at least it sounded like he gave up, with his broken jaw he was hard to understand.

She stopped her fist just enough that she only tapped his face making him cry out for his life. "I swear to you, if I ever see your face again you'll be sorry I let you live this time, because next time I won't go so easy on you." She said through her teeth dropping him to the ground.

He scuffled away heading off to the infirmary with a medic. Kami looked up at Gaara just long enough to see his eyes widen. What power she controlled in her fists, one hit and she could probably break right through his sand armor, if she could ever get close enough. She glared back, but not for long before she started wobbling then fainted right after Hiate announced she had won.

She woke up only shortly after, Rayne had fought her battle and won and Choji had fought his and lost. The medics had performed a small amount of medical ninjutsu on her leg to try and seal the wound enough for the bleeding to stop, but so long as she kept competing they couldn't do anything more than simple first aid, nothing beyond the scope of saving her life. In other words, if she fought again her wound would no doubt reopen for a third time.

At least she could walk now though without constantly needing Hitomi, but she didn't put too much weight on it, she was going to need it later. She walked out from the infirmary just in time to see all the winning candidates gathering up in front of Lord Sarutobi. Kami made her way up to Sarutobi and stood next to Hitomi looking down the line to see who passed. Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru, Hitomi, Kami, Rayne, Neji, Shino, Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, and that sound ninja.

"Congratulations to all of you on making it through the preliminary round." Hiate said.

"Now I will begin the explanation of the final round." Sarutobi said. "Each of you will put your battle skills on display. You will demonstrate the power and control you have each reached in your respective discipline. Accordingly the final battles will commence one month from now."

"Wait you mean we aren't doing it now?" Hitomi asked confused.

"No, this is in order to provide a suitable amount of time for preparation." Sarutobi explained.

"Preparation, what do you mean?" Kami asked silently relieved she had time for her wound to heal.

"Aside from needing time to send out to final results of the preliminary round to each country's leaders we also need time to prepare and distribute the summons for the final selection. Not to mention you'll all need time to prepare for something this important right?" Tsuande said.

"Look I don't get what you're trying to say what's the point of this?" Kankuro asked

"Listen here." Sarutobi said glaring at Kankuro "What I mean is in order to know your advisories and prepare yourself you need time. Even though up to this point all the battles had been real battles, they were all conducted on the premise that you were fighting an unknown enemy, but that's no longer the case now that you battled each other. So to make the final battles fair we are giving you a month to prepare. You all need to practice hard and learn some new tricks, because by now everyone knows your techniques so using your old tired moves will be a sure way to lose, and remember to get some rest as well." Sarutobi said looking at Kami and Hitomi in particular. "Besides I said we need time to send out the summons, so even if you still don't understand just shut your mouth and go practice." Sarutobi finished looking at Kankuro. "Now before we can bring this to an end there is one more important matter to take care of before the final rounds. Everyone one of you needs to take a slip of paper from the box that Anko is holding." Sarutobi ordered.

"Just stay where you are I'll come to you." Anko said walking up to each candidate.

"Alright, now everyone tell me the number on your slip of paper." Ibiki said.

The sound ninja had 3, Naruto 5, Temari 11, Kankuro 10, Gaara 1, Shikamaru 12, Hitomi 9, Kami 2, Neji 6, Shino 7, Rayne 8, and Sasuke 4.

"Alright now listen up. I'm going to explain how the final selection tournament will work. Ibiki will reveal which ninja have been paired up." Sarutobi said as Ibiki flipped the paper around.

Kami gasped, she was fighting Gaara, and Hitomi gasped she was up against Kankuro, and Shika was against Temari. What a match up. Kami balled her fists, finally she would get to fight Gaara, and the rest of her team was against the other sand village ninja. This would be a make it or break it tournament, sand against leaf. Team Anko had their work cut out for them.

"Alright so hold on." Shikamaru said. "May I ask a question?"

"Alright let's hear it." Sarutobi said crossing his arms.

"If this is a tournament then does that mean only one of us will one, I mean will only one of use become a chunin?" Shikamaru asked.

"Quite the contrary, there will be several judges for the final rounds including me, the shinobi leaders and the rest of the kage's that assign missions to you. Through this tournament the judges will be able to assess your talent and abilities and then decide if any or all of you are worth of becoming chunin." Sarutobi explained. "In fact, even if you lose in the first round there is still a chance you can become a chunin."

"So there is a chance that all of us who compete can become chunin?" Temari asked.

"Yes, but there is also a chance that none of you will become chunin, thus the more battles you fight the more opportunity you have to show your abilities to the judges." Sarutobi explained. "Alright everyone get working, you have one month. Dismissed."

Chapter 6

Once they were dismissed from the preliminaries Kami and Hitomi were both taken to the hospital for the rest of the day, however they didn't even last one night before jumping out the window, they didn't have time to mess around in the hospital bed.

"Alright team, I'm very impressed every single one of you passed especially with your injuries." Anko said meeting with her team the next day. "Now it's time for training."

"More training? What a drag." Shikamaru said.

"That's right more training, and we only have a month so let's get on it shall we?" Anko said smiling.

"Training, so soon?" Hitomi asked.

"No, not for you and Kami, you two are supposed to be in the hospital! You're lucky I haven't ratted you out yet. Shikamaru you'll be training with me. Once the two girls are ready then you can practice with them, but you two need to get back to rest you hear." Anko said.

"But Sensei!" Kami and Hitomi yelled.

"No buts understand. Now you two get back in those hospital beds, I won't allow you to train for at least a week you hear?" Anko told them putting her hands on her hips. "Now go!" she ordered pointing in the general direction of the hospital.

The two girls sighed and looked at their one perfectly healthy teammate jealous. Hitomi spent a week in the hospital as ordered, but Kami kept sneaking out. A hospital was just so lame, not that she stayed out for long, she was always found, and her leg wound wasn't healing any faster. Hitomi's shoulder wound had healed, but she would always have a scar, and her abilities with her arm would never be quite the same from being dislocated, luckily she had popped it back in fast enough that her muscles healed correctly.

"It's nice to have you back Hitomi. Where is Kami?" Anko asked when Hitomi returned for training a week later.

"Well she kept sneaking out so much that they currently have her strapped down to a hospital bed, her leg isn't healing so well." Hitomi said looking at the ground.

"Oh, well I hope she can join us soon. Shikamaru why don't you fill Hitomi in on all our training, now that she is here I doubt you need me. I'll see you round." Anko said smiling and disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"Uh what?!" Shikamaru yelled. "You've got to be kidding; I have to train with Hitomi one on one again. What a drag."

"Oh don't be such a drag Shikamaru." Hitomi said teasing him and punching him in the arm.

"I am definitely not a drag, you're the real drag." Shikamaru replied stepping back from her and readying for battle.

"Oh come on we both know who the real pain is." Hitomi said readying herself as well.

"You mean Kami?" Shikamaru asked grinning.

"Of course I mean Kami, skipping training for some dumb leg injury." Hitomi said smiling and throwing a kunai at Shikamaru.

He dodged, it wasn't meant to hit him. "That's how you wanna play?" Shika said throwing one at her also meant to miss.

"Let's see what you've been doing with Anko this past week." Hitomi said.

"Shadow possession jutsu!" Shikamaru yelled doing his hand sign.

Hitomi jumped in the air dodging his shadow. Hitomi could really use some training against a puppet master but Shikamaru would have to do. While she battled Shikamaru she couldn't help but think of how she would beat a puppet master, she had barely seen any of his work and he had seen her main moves. She found herself dropping her guard long enough for Shikamaru to get his shadow possession off.

"Hitomi what just happened? You didn't even try and dodge it." He said

"Oh…sorry, I'm just…those three sand village ninja, they're tough, probably the strongest of the candidates and what were the chances that our entire team got matched up with their entire team?" Hitomi asked.

"Well I don't know, but all we can do is train." Shikamaru said releasing his shadow possession.

"You think we stand a chance?" Hitomi asked sitting down.

"Uh, well I don't know." He said sighing and sitting down beside her.

"What do you think of them anyway? Don't they seem…a little off? For ninja from an allied land they sure seem to have a lot of bloodlust." Hitomi said lying down and looking at the clouds.

"Yeah, you're right. You don't think they have some kind of ulterior motive for competing in these exams do you?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't know, I'm not saying it didn't cross my mind, but the way that Gaara kid would've killed Lee and the way that Kankuro guy just practically crushed his opponent to death. Plus the way Temari just tossed Ten Ten around…I just don't like this. We have to beat them." Hitomi said. "Let's go see Kami in the hospital." She continued getting up.

"What? But we're supposed to be training, you said yourself about how tough these opponents are." Shikamaru explained standing up.

"I know, but I think we need Kami, besides you've been doing fine. Let's go." Hitomi ordered walking off towards the hospital Shikamaru reluctantly following her; he couldn't train alone after all.

For the rest of the month Kami was left in the hospital, her wound wasn't healing properly for some reason, that isn't to say she didn't go out and practice on her own, she had to fight Gaara, she had to get ready regardless of her wounds. Shikamaru and Hitomi kept training everyday making their current jutsu better and Hitomi trying to create something new, and each they Hitomi forced them to visit Kami. Most the time she was either gone on one of her little escapades or she was awake and struggling to get out. The day before the exam they arrive at the hospital during the daytime, they didn't want to train and wear themselves out so instead they took a break.

When they arrived Kami was actually asleep for once, still tied down however. "Man what a drag, we came all the way here and she's asleep."

"Let's play shoji." Hitomi said turning to Shikamaru.

"Why so you can cheat again?" Shikamaru said setting a game up anyway.

Suddenly as they were watching the sand timer they realized something. "It stopped." Hitomi said.

"Huh, must've forgotten to wind it or something, what a drag." Shikamaru said.

"Hey Shika, I bet Kami will be hungry as usual when she wakes up, we should eat her food so she won't have any." Hitomi said laughing.

"That's so mean. I like it." Shikamaru said grinning. "I thought you two were friends."

"Well we are, but there is nothing wrong with a little friendly competition right?" Hitomi said eating some of Kami's food.

Kami moaned then waking up finally. "What day is it? How close is the exam?"

"Oh Kami, the exam is tomorrow." Hitomi answered leaning over Kami's restrained body and eating her cup of pudding.

"Is that….is that….my cup of pudding…?" Kami said her eye twitching.

"Oh this? Yep, chocolate, it's really good." Hitomi replied eating is slower and slower.

"What's the matter with you?! I'm starving get me out of these things!" Kami yelled wiggling around.

"You really shouldn't strain yourself you know, you might end up hurting yourself again." Hitomi continued to tease.

"Wait….is…is Shikamaru eating my food too…" Kami asked angrily.

"I don't know, are you Shika?" Hitomi asked turning to him.

"Nope, I'm not getting involved in this." He said walking to the door away from them.

"Well, anyway let's get you out of this bed, we have an exam tomorrow." Hitomi said unbuckling all of Kami's restraints leaving Kami open to strangling Hitomi for stealing her food.

"Hey, you guys! I hear something." Shikamaru said quieting both of them and listening through the door. "It's like agonizing screams."

"What?" Hitomi said in shock walking over to hear. "I hear it. What is that? Kami stay here." Hitomi said as her and Shikamaru burst out of the room and went a few rooms down to hall to Lee's room.

Opening the door they saw Gaara standing over Lee about ready to kill him with a sand burial. Quickly Shikamaru performed his shadow possession preventing Gaara from moving and allowing Hitomi to punch Gaara right across the face.

"You bastard! What are you doing in here?!" Hitomi yelled as Shikamaru rubbed his cheek.

"Hey take it easy! I'm using shadow possession so when you hit him you hit me too got it!" Shikamaru yelled.

"Oh right…sorry." Hitomi said turning to face Gaara but backing away next to Shikamaru. "Alright, out with it, what were you doing in here? Were you going to kill him?"

Gaara just stood in silence for a moment glaring at them both. "Yes, I was going to kill him." He finally said.

"You already beat him once in the competition, what's your problem wasn't that enough for you?" Shikamaru asked staring down Gaara. "Do you have some kind of grudge against him or something?"

"I have nothing against him." Gaara said. "It's nothing that complicated I simply want to kill him that's all."

"You know what you're sick in the head! You're crazy!" Hitomi yelled outraged.

"Yeah, do you think we're just going to stand by and let you do whatever you want you sick psycho?" Shikamaru asked just as angry.

The both of them kept their distance however, they we're scared out of their minds of him, there had always been something off about him, it was pretty obvious. He just wanted to kill people for the fun of it. If he tried to make a move they both doubted they could stop him.

"If you don't get out of my way I'll just have to kill you two as well." Gaara said.

Hitomi gasped slightly; did he really just say that? "Hey, we saw you're fight against Lee. We know you're tough and merciless."

"Besides the two of us have things up our sleeves still, things you haven't seen, and it's two against one so just don't be stupid, just take my advice and go." Shikamaru said

"I'll only say it once more, if you get in my way, I'll kill you." Gaara said glaring at them harder his eyes slits now.

"Just try it." Kami said walking in.

"Woah hey hold on, we don't want to go there, this guy fights like some kind of demon." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah well I'm going to have to tomorrow." Kami argued.

"Yeah tomorrow, not today, tomorrow when you can still come out of it alive." Hitomi argued.

"A demon huh? It makes sense; the demon inside me is a real as the heart inside you." Gaara said and the three of them gasped. "From my birth my upbringing was not what most people would consider a happy one. To ensure that I became the strongest of shinobi my father cast his ninjutsu on me infusing my unborn self with a sand spirit. I destroyed the life of the woman who gave birth to me, I was born a monster. Its name is shukaku and it's the living incarnation of an old monk of the sand village who's been sealed up in a jar of tea." Gaara continued.

"Some kind of demonic jutsu okay, but to use it on a baby before it's even born, man that's crazy." Shikamaru said. "Gee what a swell guy your dad must've been, he really must've loved you a lot."

"You speak of love. Don't measure me by your standards." Gaara said. "Love, family, the only emotional ties I have to my family are the ones I'd like to wrap around their necks, they're only ties of hate."

The three of them gasped at what he had just said. Gaara really hated his own family that much, what was Kami's going to have to deal with tomorrow.

"Given life by the death of my mother I was brought into being and nurtured as the salvation of the village. I was the kazekage child. My father taught me the innermost secrets of the shinobi; he pampered and protected me then left me to myself. For a time I thought that was love…and that was when everything started." Gaara said closing his eyes and looking down.

"When what started?" Shikamaru asked.

"In the six years since I became six years old my father tried to destroy me more time than I could count!" Gaara exclaimed.

"Well you just got done saying your father pampered and protected you, which one is it?" Shikamaru asked a little confused.

"Those who get to be too strong are apt to become feared. The jutsu that gave me birth it unbalanced something in my mind, even the fools in my village realized I had emotional problems. My father, the kazekage, created me as his ultimate weapon, but I eventually became a threat to the very village I was meant to save." Gaara said leaving Hitomi, Kami and Shikamaru just starting in shock. "By the time I was six I became a figure of terror to the villagers. To them I was a relic of the past that they wished would disappear. So you see how I had failed at the one purpose for which I was given life. What then was left for me in this existence why go on living? For a long time I couldn't find an answer to that, but in order to live you need a purpose." He continued furrowing his brow, glaring once more at all of them. "To exist for no reason, it's the same as being dead."

"What is this guy talking about?" Shika asked confused.

Kami stood by listening; it was too much like what she remembered from her childhood. Always being shunned because she was the mystery girl, the abandoned one, no one wanted her. Hitomi was the only one there for her. That was when Hitomi began to realize why Kami grew to hate most people so quickly, because people hated her, people treated her differently just like Gaara. Kami felt that if anyone was rude or mean to her that they knew about what had happened and they were treating her that way because of it, they hated her because she had no past. She didn't know her father, her mother, she wasn't even sure if they name on her clothes when she was found was even her real name. It struck Kami's heart listening to Gaara talk about having no purpose, about his family hating him, about him wanting nothing more than to kill them. Kami would've wanted the same had she ever found her family, just leaving her abandoned in the forest, not even bringing her to town; her parents hadn't wanted her to be found they had wanted her to be dead.

"Then in time the answer came to me." Gaara continued "To put it simply my reason for living is in the killing of others. For years I lived in fear of those who were sent to murder me, but now I am at peace. I've killed many wimpy assassins and it was while I was doing it that the truth was made clear to me. I live solely for myself, I love only myself. As it was the death of my mother that first gave me life now it is the death of others that sustains me and makes me almost happy to be alive, and there's no end to it as long as there are still people to kill in this great wide crowded world, I will never disappear."

Kami knew how he felt, but the difference was she had Hitomi most her life, and over the years she had made other friends, Rayne, and there were people who cared about her like Kakashi and Anko sensei. Gaara had no one, he had to find meaning in his life all on his own and this was what he found, killing in order to live. Kami wasn't far from that now that she looked at it, hating most people not caring whether or not most of them lived or died. She could have just as easily ended up the same was Gaara was.

Even with Shikamaru's shadow possession Gaara was still able to control his sand and shot it at all three of them ready to kill them where they stood. Shikamaru didn't know what to do; Kami stood their motionless her mind on her past. Hitomi had to do something, she performed her hand signs but before she was able to do anything Guy sensei walked in.

"Alright that's enough. Save it for the competition tomorrow, you're just wasting it today is that what you want?" Guy said stepping between team Anko and Gaara.

Gaara grasped his head remembering his past when everyone hated him, when he killed people without even meaning to, when he was alone and helpless always crying. Kami saw the pain in his face but she couldn't feel any sympathy, she still had to fight him tomorrow and she wouldn't let emotions ruin that. She looked away as Gaara returned his sand to his gourd and left slowly.

"All the same I will kill you, I will kill you all." Gaara said before walking out the door.

The three of them sighed relieved that Guy had stepped in, at least Lee was alright. If they hadn't intervened he might be dead. Without a word the three of them left, Kami was cleared to go but only because she had to compete tomorrow. Walking silently back to their houses they all had the same thing on their minds, Gaara, but also their opponents, for Kami it was the same. Facing him tomorrow, she really had her work cut out for her and with her injured leg still.

"Hitomi… I think…I think I want to be alone." Kami said walking off on her own to think.

Hitomi looked to Shikamaru. "You wanna go?" She asked.

"Huh where?" Shikamaru responded confused.

"The middlemist." Hitomi said. That's what they called the patch of grass surrounded by the red camellias.

"Oh well, I can't I actually have to meet my dad somewhere." He said.

"Oh? Your dad huh, you never talk about him I almost forgot you even had one." She teased.

"Not like you talk about your parents or anything." He responded. "Anyway, if I can make it I'll come, but I have to go." He said running off to a restaurant where he was supposed to meet his father.

Hitomi shrugged and went to middlemist anyway; maybe he would show up later, but for the time being all three of them were alone.

"Come on dad can't we go home already?" Shikamaru said walking into the restaurant.

"Listen, don't be a drag son, you're supposed to be living it up and having fun at this festival thing." His father said.

"Eh, whatever it's a total drag." Shikamaru said rubbing his head.

"You idiot, since ancient times the final competition has always been like a festival." His father said clearly drunk.

"I'm in that final competition tomorrow! Aw man I don't have time to baby sit you." Shikamaru said dropping his head.

"You're in it? What seriously?" his dad asked.

Shikamaru went to speak but sighed and dropped his head again. "Never mind just forget it." he said. He couldn't believe his own father didn't even know he was in the competition.

Kami was thinking about the competition too. "I have to win tomorrow" she said aloud. "If I don't…if I don't win I'll be dead, or worse." She sighed and looked up surprised to see Gaara on top of a building. Quickly she ran off to her house and it wasn't long before she was fast asleep.

Hitomi lay in the soft grass as Shikamaru arrived, it was getting late however. "I was just about to leave, I wasn't sure you would show." She said sitting up.

"Yeah well my dad's a real drag sometimes. I left him there, but hey we probably should get some rest don't you think?" Shikamaru said.

"Yeah I think you're right let's head back." Hitomi agreed standing and walking back to their houses.

"Good luck tomorrow, don't lose alright?" Hitomi said once they arrived back at their houses. "Can't let the team down, you are in the best shape right?"

"Doesn't mean I'm best suited for my match. We'll see." He said walking into his house.

Hitomi walked upstairs slowly nervous about the battle tomorrow. Even more so than being nervous about herself she was nervous about Kami, Gaara would kill her if he had the chance. Walking into her room she grinned a little seeing Kami was asleep. After changing she looked out her window and saw Shikamaru. He looked back at her and walked over to open his window.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Nothing, goodnight Shikamaru." She said smiling and climbing into bed. Tomorrow was a big day and she couldn't be tired.

Chapter 7

The next morning they all awoke promptly, dressed and got ready for the test. Hitomi was shaking in anticipation, Kami was ready, and Shikamaru was just annoyed. The three of them made their way to the final arena standing in line upon arrival with all the other candidates Naruto and Sasuke nowhere to be found. However, it wasn't long until Naruto appeared sliding in and mumbling something about bulls.

After they closed the gates Sasuke still hadn't arrived but the first battled needed to commence. Everyone except for Kami and Gaara retreated to the stands to watch the raging battle.

Gaara appeared in front of her then through his sand. They stared each other down; Kami wasn't going to let Naruto show her up or Rock Lee from the month before. She had to win this fight. She had been trying to think of a way to penetrate his sand shield but basically nothing had crossed her mind. She would have to get close to him in order to break that sand armor because her earth jutsu was never going to work, not when he was basically using the same thing with his sand.

"Last time I watched you battle I was impressed with you power." Gaara said once the proctor had begun the match. "I think you could be quite the opponent."

"Just shut up." Kami said pacing in a circle around him.

She definitely wasn't as fast as Lee was so she basically had no idea how she would ever get close to Gaara, but she had to do something about that gourd. If she managed to get that thing away from his then she had a hunch his sand wouldn't be able to protect him like that. He would still be able to control the sand, but if the gourd was farther away it would take longer to get to him, however could she even get close enough to get the gourd?

Gaara glared at her following her every movement with his eyes. Throwing up her hand signs she brought earth up around Gaara surrounding him all around. Once Gaara was surrounded and blinded he quickly made a shadow clone and the real Kami sunk into the ground.

Gaara created a third eye using his sand and sent it to the outside of the surrounding Earth wall, but he was too slow to be able to see her create a shadow clone, what he thought he saw was the real Kami, just to be safe however he cloaked himself in the sand armor, he had seen her potential and was going to be prepared for anything. Gaara didn't like being surrounded by the earth but he didn't have to ability to destroy it so instead he lifted himself into the air standing on his hand and landed on the other side of the wall looking her shadow clone in the eyes.

He sent his sand out to capture her in a coffin. She kept her clone doing everything it could to just dodge the attacks, keeping Gaara busy, distracted. Gaara just crossed his arms getting annoyed that she was dodging his sand. He growled the look on his face becoming more and more evil.

His sand swirled from all sides capturing her clone in it. She fought with all her strength to keep her clone jutsu active while she traveled underground finding the perfect spot to emerge. His sand may protect him above ground but not under. Just as Kami lost the clone jutsu when Gaara tried to crush it she infused her chakra into her fist flying out from the ground and smashing her fist into his gourd.

At first she just cracked it but she had a backup fist ready to strike, smashing her second fist into the gourd the bottom of it breaking open the sand pouring out onto the ground. Gaara turned around swiftly and jumped back not sure what had happened or why she hadn't hit him, he hadn't realized all his sand was under Kami's feet but of course she didn't realize it either, not until it started swirling up around her legs.

"Oh shit! Didn't account for this part!" She yelled just barely managing to escape the sand stopping on the other side of the battle arena.

Gaara was on one end and Kami on the other the sand in between them. If she moved fast she could get close to him before his sand got there, but she only had a second, a second that she didn't waste. She instantly began running towards him holding her hand out to bring walls of earth up in between her and the sand in an attempt to protect herself as it flew at her wanting her blood.

Gaara took no notice when Kami began closing in on him he simply continued to send his sand to crush her trying to get it to make its way through her earth walls. He assumed that her physical attack would be blocked automatically by his sand; he still hadn't realized he had no sand near him. Then his eyes widened seconds too late as Kami's fist connected with his face knocking him across the arena.

He hit the wall and fell to the ground rolling a few times not knowing what had just happened. If he had realized his gourd had broken he could've repaired it, but instead he sent all the sand he saw on the ground after Kami not realizing that was literally all his sand. Slowly he stood up feeling his face, she had broken through his sand armor just as he would've expected. She had broken through and hit his actual body. That was the first time anyone had actually hit his body.

"You hit me." He said glaring at her his sand traveling back to him to repair his gourd and sand armor. "Now you definitely have to die." He said demonically.

"Not today!" She yelled punching her fist into the ground sending a shockwave through the earth the ground shooting up in spikes at Gaara once it was within proximity.

Gaara shielded himself with his sand and Kami growled in anger. She hit him too hard putting too much distance between the two of them. She ran up to him attacking him physically but his sand just blocked all her hits easily. She was strong, but she still couldn't get past his sand defense. It hadn't occurred to her that he could repair his gourd like that; in fact she didn't know what to expect at all, how could she beat him?

"Enough!" Gaara said clasping his hands together and bringing his sand in to crush her.

She flipped backwards just out of the way to dodge his moves but upon her landing a shooting pain ran through her leg, she had landed too hard on her bad leg, the wound was reopening. She pushed the pain aside and stood up dodging past his sand, but his sand was getting faster. He was getting angrier and thus infusing more chakra into the sand making it better and faster. She barely rolled out of the way of one of his attacks before sinking into the earth again.

She had only used this technique once maybe she could get by with it a second time, but the chances of her winning were slim. She jumped up through the ground to hit him once more in the face but this time he was expecting it, without being distracted by a clone he had nothing else to do but wait for her to show herself again.

His sand caught her fist and stopped her attack the two of them face to face. She gasped when she saw his eyes up close, the pain she could see it. Her hesitation was what ended that battle. His sand wrapped down and around her arm and tossed her around banging her against one wall then the other. When it finally released her, her right arm was broken and dislocated, her leg was bleeding and the wound had reopened and she could barely move at all.

"I've had enough of this. Now you die." Gaara said.

Kami knew it was over, she knew the only way to get out alive would be to give up. Looking up she saw Hitomi yelling something, she didn't know what but Hitomi was screaming it, Kami couldn't hear. Her head had been banged around so much she couldn't think of anything. She raised her hand then, but too late. Gaara's sand wrapped around her chest pinning her to the wall crushing her slowly making her scream as she felt and ever heard her ribs cracking.

"Proctor! End the battle!" Hitomi screamed from the stands, but the reality was he couldn't end it until it was over and it wasn't over.

"Kami raised her left hand, she couldn't move her right. "I give!" she yelled barely able to hear her own voice.

"Sand coffin." Gaara beginning to do his sand coffin hand sign, but the proctor stooped him just in time. Gaara glared at him. "You got in my way…I'll kill you too."

"I would let her go and get back up to your team if I was you." The proctor said, "You won the battle right?"

Gaara glared at the proctor but released Kami and returned to Temari and Kankuro. Kami fell to the ground unconscious and on the verge of death. Quickly medical ninja ran out and took her away on a stretcher but no one said anything. The next battle was supposed to be Sasuke and Dazu, the sound ninja but since neither of them showed they were going to disqualify both contestants, however it was lead to believe that Sasuke was on his way so instead the Hokage actually disqualified only Dazu and they waited for Sasuke to return until his next battle was to commence. The following battle was Naruto and Neji. The battle had already begun when it was basically over, Neji having won when Naruto suddenly released some type of red chakra force. The battle was so intense no one knew what was happening, and then when the smoke cleared Naruto was on the ground unconscious, Neji had won, until Naruto burst up and out from under Neji and launched him into the air with a punch in the chin. Neji didn't get back up after that, and Naruto won the battle.

"Oh man who would've thought Naruto beat Neji! I always thought Naruto was like me one of the dorky uncool kids but now people think he's really going to make something of himself. Man I've never been so depressed in my life, what a total drag." Shikamaru said.

"Get a hold of yourself Shikamaru, don't forget who you're going up against, she is strong too, and if you beat her people will cheer just the same!" Hitomi said encouraging him.

"Oh…that's right…my opponent is a girl. How lame!" He complained dropping his head and his hopes.

"Oh snap out of it. Trust me Shika; you can do it, all that training wasn't for nothing. Don't tell me you went through all that torture with me and Anko just to quit now." Hitomi said pushing him.

"I guess you're right." He said standing up straight.

Next were Shino and Rayne. Bugs against dogs, Rayne put up a good fight but in the end her jutsu just wasn't enough to defeat Shino's parasitic insects and she gave up knowing she was too weak to bother continuing. She wasn't going to be stupid about her actions; she could come back again when she was better prepared.

Hitomi had to go into battle next not even knowing whether or not Kami was alive. She knew the ninja rule was to never let emotion effect a mission, a ninja was never supposed to cry, and up until this point she had followed that rule, that's why team Anko had been such a good team, they didn't let emotion interfere, but she didn't know how het next battle would fare having Kami in that condition. No matter she was up next, the exams had to continue. She jumped down from the ledge taking a deep breath as Kankuro landed on the other side of the arena.

"Your friend looked pretty bad. Looks like Gaara took another one." Kankuro said.

"Another what…?" Hitomi asked.

"Another life idiot." Kankuro responded. "I'm saying your friend is dead."

"You'll regret saying that. Kami won't die, you don't know her. She just can't die…you on the other hand." Hitomi said one tear rolling down her face before she looked up glaring across the arena at Kankuro her eyes burning into his soul sending shivers down his spine. "You on the other hand are another matter."

The proctor knew the fight had already begun by that point so he went ahead and signaled the start, however both of the contestants stood there perfectly still even after that. Neither Hitomi nor Kankuro made a move. One thing she had learned over the month was not to make the first move on an opponent she knew nothing about. All she knew was Kankuro used the puppet master jutsu and it was safe to assume Kankuro was actually in the wrap on his back and the man she was seeing was his puppet.

Kankuro removed the wrapped figure from his back and set it on the ground in front of him. "What are you waiting for?" he asked.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Hitomi growled.

"Very well." Kankuro said smiling an unwrapping his puppet, so they one wrapped really was his puppet. "Meet crow, this'll be over fast." He said throwing his hands out and sending his puppet after here.

One thing about puppets is they were loud, she always knew where they were. Another thing however, they were usually made of a very tough wood, especially puppets used in battle, they were difficult to break. As crow flew towards her she closed her eyes crossing her hands in front of her face sending all her chakra into them. Sending chakra into her hands allowed her to better control the force of the gravity.

Over time and after practicing Hitomi began realizing she could do more and more with her jutsu, it wasn't just these gravitational abilities. She was learning how to do things with her powers that were unexplainable if it was described through gravity alone. Remembering back to things she was practicing before this match her eyes burst open again just as crow was throwing its arms around to wrap around her and crush her.

Shikamaru was in the stands telling her to move, to do something but she wasn't listening. Hitomi threw her arms out uncrossing them and sending a powerful shockwave from her hands. Shikamaru gasped as he and the rest of the crowd watched a purple chakra type power fly out from her hands. Whatever it was, the change in chakra form and nature together had created something powerful that no one could understand. The shockwave flew out towards crow and tossed it against the wall cracking it severely all over its body.

"Crow!" Kankuro yelled gritting his teeth and glaring at Hitomi. What the hell was this type of power she controlled?

Kankuro tried controlling crow in an attempt to attack Hitomi, but crow's joints were splintered and they weren't moving correctly. Hitomi shook her head as she let crow wrap its good arms around her. Shikamaru balled his fists, what was she doing just standing there? Slowly crow's arms began tightening on her. Kankuro laughed, he thought he had won, he thought that whatever ability Hitomi had used took everything out of her which was a bit of the truth, using that type of power took a lot of her chakra, but she had plenty left to end this battle.

As crow's arms tightened and her anger rose she began sending shockwaves out from her body, dispersing them into crow each time breaking the puppet a little more. She used one shockwave, then a second, and the third time she yelled and sent out one last wave tossing her arms out and breaking the puppet to pieces. Once she was released from the puppets grip she turned to face Kankuro breathing heavily.

"You're right. This will be over fast." Hitomi said running at Kankuro. He was hopeless, he didn't have a puppet and there was no way he could dodge her attack.

He remembered he had a summoning scroll but he was too slow. "I give I give!" he quickly yelled not wanting to get pummeled into the ground.

"Too late!" Hitomi yelled putting all her force into a punch which she landed in his stomach smashing him into the wall. "Sorry I just couldn't stop myself, I was moving too fast." She yelled pushing herself off him but shoving her hand into his stomach again. "Next time speak a little sooner. Punk"

"The winner is Hitomi." The proctor said.

She grinned watching Kankuro walk back up to Gaara and Temari ashamed. She made her way back up to Shikamaru to find Naruto and some other of their first year genin standing there. She waved at them upon seeing them then sat down a distance away before she collapsed. It was finally hitting her, all the energy she had used was finally weighing down on her. At least she had a few rounds before her next battle…against either Temari or Shikamaru believe it or not. She looked over to see Temari, what was she thinking? Hitomi looked forward to but also didn't look forward to fighting her; however she didn't really want to fight Shikamaru, not that she couldn't win. Shikamaru would probably give up before their battle started, they knew each other's moves all too well but they both also know who always won the fights when they were training. She definitely wouldn't complain if for some reason they had to cut the exams short.

"Hey are you alright?" Shikamaru asked looking over at her.

"Yeah I'll be fine. You better get ready. You're up next aren't you?" Hitomi asked standing up and walking over to the group of genin she knew.

"Oh yeah…what a drag." Shikamaru said aloud. Maybe he would just give up; Hitomi was lucky beating that Kankuro guy. Did Shikamaru really think he could win, and even if he did win then to face Hitomi? What was the point?

Temari jumped down using her fan and wind jutsu to glide safely to the bottom whereas Shikamaru on the other hand…

"Come on get out there! Make my next battle an easy one." Hitomi yelled pushing him and accidently knocking him over the ledge. He yelled as he fell to the ground laying sprawled on his back looking back up at Hitomi. "Oops. Sorry." Hitomi said smiling.

"_Hitomi you jerk_…" he thought to himself. He just lay there on the ground not moving, they didn't really care about his match they just wanted to watch Sasuke battle Gaara. They were all just a bunch of jerks throwing garbage out at Shikamaru. Well if that was how they were going to be why would he knock himself out for them, maybe he should just give up. To top all that off his opponent was a girl…again.

"Well he never was driven but I didn't expect him to just lie there like that." Hitomi said crossing her arms and biting her nail on one of her hands.

"Come on come on get up and fight! Get it together Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled. "You gonna get going sometime this year!"

"Well if you won't move then I will!" Temari yelled running towards Shika.

"Hey I didn't start the match yet!" The proctor said.

"Oh I forgot…this girl's a spunky one…I hate spunky." Shikamaru said pulling some kunai out. Temari jumped down from the air and smashed her fan into the ground right where Shikamaru was, but when the smoke cleared he had moved, he was standing up against the wall now. "It really doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me whether I ever become a chunin or not, but I guess I shouldn't let myself get beaten by a female." Shikamaru said grinning thinking about how Hitomi had beaten him several times before. Now was his time to redeem himself. "So let's do it."

Temari closed her eyes in on him glaring at him and quickly opened her fan blasting him with a gust of wind, but once again when the smoke cleared it was only a few Kunai in the wall and Shikamaru was gone again, hidden behind a tree.

"_He's quick enough when it comes to running away_." Temari thought to herself.

"_I know it's not classy for a guy to clobber a girl, but who ever said I was classy."_ Shikamaru thought looking out at her from behind the tree.

"_Nice try but I know all your games; he's trying to lure me into the shadow of that tree. Well I'm not falling for that_." Temari thought once again holding her fan open in front of her body.

"_So why do I always have to fight girl? That's so lame._" Shikamaru thought looking up into the stands.

"Go for it Shikamaru! Use a super awesome technique on her and take that bitch down!" Hitomi yelled from the crowd punching the air in excitement. She had a feeling this battle would turn out well.

"I never expected to see Shikamaru in the finals." Rayne said walking up to her.

"What are you talking about? Come on, Shika may not have as much fighting spirit as some other people, and okay his technique is pretty lousy, but he's strong at strategy…" Hitomi said each word making her feel worse and worse about the battle. "You know, he's so strong in fact that without him our team may not have even made it as far as we have." Hitomi continued cheering herself up a bit. He could do this right?

"_Ah…sometimes I just wish I was a cloud. Just floating along, going wherever the breeze takes me. That's my style; I'm just not into putting effort into stuff. The only reason I became a ninja was to be able to do whatever I wanted. Geez who knew it would be so much work._" Shikamaru thought looking into the sky.

"Get your butt in gear! Let's go Shikamaru!" Hitomi yelled from the stands.

Shikamaru sighed. "_Oh well, a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do._"

"_What's he thinking behind that stupid grin? Is he mocking me?_" Temari thought. "Ninja art! Wind scythe jutsu!" She yelled angrily waving her giant fan at Shikamaru and sending a gust of wind towards him.

He covered his face with his arms as tree limbs broke beside him. Well, he wasn't about to let some tough wind knock him down and out was he? Through the clouds of dust he threw his shadow across the ground out towards Temari catching her off guard. She flipped backwards a few times to get away from it but gasped when it just kept coming stopping only inches from her shadow.

"Now I get it" She said drawing a line on the ground with her fan indicating his distance with his jutsu. "Almost got me, aren't you clever, with that shadow possession jutsu you can manipulate any shadow you're in. The wall's shadow for instance, but there is a limit isn't there? No matter how thin you stretch it, it will only reach so far. Isn't that right?" She said realizing his weak spot.

He set in the shadow catching his breath, aside from being blasted with wind his jutsu took quite a bit of chakra. He grinned "You got me." He said.

"And now I know just where that limit is." She said. "_Even using the walls shadow his jutsu can only reach to this point_. _15 meters and 32 centimeters. That's the range of his attack; if I can just stay behind this line he can't touch me._" She thought to herself smiling.

Kankuro was in the crowd thinking the same thing, the match was as good as over but Hitomi thought otherwise, if Shikamaru was going to fight at all he wasn't going to give up that easily, not if there was another way. Shikamaru looked into the sky for a moment then back at Temari placing his hands together in what looked like a hand sign to most, but it was simply his way of focusing. He was like an old man the way he thought, he liked to take things slowly, really slowly. That's why he was so good at games like go and shoji, he was always challenging Asuma Sensei to matches knowing Asuma was rather good at them. Though Anko was his sensei he spent a lot of his free time with Asuma, in which he beat him in every single thing they played together. After all Asuma was the one who introduced Shikamaru to those games.

Hitomi played shoji with him often but she had never won without cheating, whenever they played for real he always beat her. Whenever he was stuck on a move he used that hand sign, the same one he was doing now, that was how he focused. He was working on a strategy. Hitomi grinned, once he used that hand sign it didn't matter what she did or what Asuma did Shikamaru ended the game right there running through hundreds of possibilities in an instant picking the one that would never fail to work. Temari didn't have any idea what was coming.

"What is he doing?" Anko asked walking over to Hitomi. "I've never seen that hand sign before."

"He's formulating a strategy. It's not a hand sign for any type of jutsu; it's more like a habit. If you've never seen it before then I guess maybe your battles with him were too easy or troublesome huh sensei. Shikamaru might be a real pain sometimes, and he might not have any real motivation without help from others, like me pushing him over that ledge or threatening him but he has the mind of a genius." Hitomi explained.

"Yeah but…I saw his test scores when they grouped the genin together. His scores were almost as bad as Naruto's." Anko said.

"Hey what's that mean?!" Naruto yelled.

"It means exactly what I said; your test scores were the lowest." Anko said looking over at Naruto.

"Shikamaru thinks that the act of putting a pencil to paper is a drag and it's too much work for him. He'd rather take a nap than a written exam." Hitomi explained.

"So how did he manage to pass the first chunin exam?" Anko asked.

"Beats me, fear of Kami and I pummeling him into the ground if he got us disqualified." Hitomi said laughing at the thought. "He was so lazy that I guess Asuma sensei tricked him into taking an IQ test by making Shikamaru think it was just another game. Apparently Shikamaru was yawning the whole time bored out of his mind, but apparently his score was off the charts, beyond genius in fact. He has an IQ of over 200." Hitomi said watching as Shikamaru put down his hands and reopened his eyes. "He's done thinking. Now the real battle begins."

"So you have some fighting spirit after all." Temari said reopening her fan and holding it in front of her before sending another wind gust out towards him. Quickly he jumped behind a tree and removed his small jacket barely able to withstand the force of the wind. "No use in hiding!"

"Are you really sure he even has a strategy?" Anko asked.

"Well…I uh….I hope so." Hitomi said. "Go Shikamaru do something!" she yelled.

"He'll give up soon. This is too much effort for him still." Anko said looking down at the battle.

"No he wouldn't do that! Would he?" Hitomi said second guessing herself.

"You can't hide forever! Come out coward!" Temari yelled throwing another gust of wind.

She jumped out of the way and fell down just as a kunai flew at her face. Then Shikamaru sent out his shadow possession again and Temari just laughed. "_As long as I stay on this side of the line he can't touch me._" She thought proud of herself however her eyes widened seconds later. "_What the! It's still coming!_" she thought jumped back just barely in time and only centimeters out of range of his shadow possession.

"You're pretty quick on your toes." Shikamaru said as the smoke dispersed revealing him standing there.

"Now I see what you were doing, you weren't just hiding; you were killing time, waiting for the sun to get lower and the shadow of that wall to get longer. The longer the shadows the farther your range is." Temari said figuring out his strategy.

"Damn…he almost had her." Hitomi muttered to herself. "He can still get her though; she doesn't realize what he's capable of. He can even make shadows within shadows."

"_Alright no problem, if I just calculate the height of the sun and the distance he's gained from his previous attack I can keep out of range._" Temari thought to herself grinning.

"Temari over your head!" Kankuro yelled.

She looked up to see the jacket he had removed tied with his headband and a Kunai floating in the air perfectly falling at the end of his current distance of shadow. "_Oh no!_" she thought jumping backwards as his shadow now reached even farther.

"I've got you now!" Shikamaru yelled his shadow chasing after her zigzagging one way or another.

"_He made a parachute out of his jacket to create an extra shadow!_" she thought angrily. "_Clever move, now I not only have to worry about the shadows on the ground I have to keep an eye on this thing above my head and it extends his range indefinitely. Huh guess I've been underestimating this slacker clown, his shadow possession jutsu is a lot more dangerous than I thought._" She thought finally jumping out of range now standing in-between two holes that had been made in the ground during Naruto's fight.

Shikamaru's jacket parachute dropped to the ground then and Temari stood up opening her fan and placing it on the ground behind her, grinning. "She learns fast I'll give her that." Shikamaru said as his shadow possession receded.

"Damn it…" Hitomi said. This girl thought just like Shikamaru, she was a strategist too.

"_The longer this match takes the lower the sun gets. The longer the shadows the farther his range._" She thought smashing her fan into the ground in front of her. "_Time to finish this._" She thought for a moment of a strategy. "_If I create a diversion with the clone jutsu he will attack my clone giving me the opportunity to attack from above, yeah that'll work._" She watched as his shadow finished receding and nodded. "_Now._" She thought as she began doing hand signs for the clone jutsu but before she could finish she gasped. "_What?! My…my body…it's frozen_"

The stands all watched intensely gasping. "It took a while." Shikamaru said dropping his hand sign. "But my shadow possession finally worked."

"No way! He actually did it." Naruto said.

"Amazing. He was thinking three moves ahead all along." Anko said finally realizing her student's full potential. All this time she mistook him for some lazy bum, she hadn't realized how smart he was. Asuma was a better sensei than she had been.

"Like I said, Shikamaru's strength is in his mind. He's a strategist." Hitomi explained once more.

"_Impossible, how could he have caught me with his shadow, it couldn't reach this far._" Temari thought confused.

"Look behind you. I'll let you." Shikamaru said turning his head around so Temari could see the hole in the ground right behind her.

His shadow was coming out of the hole and had caught her from behind, her eyes widened and gasped as she saw it, this whole time he had been trying to get her in front of that hole in the ground and she didn't see it, but how had it come out of the hole?

"Don't you recognize that hole? It's where Naruto popped out of the ground and knocked Neji for a real loop. The hole in front of you is where he went into the ground, the two are connected." Shikamaru said explaining how his shadow was able to go through one hole and come out the other.

"Now I see, I never thought of shadows underground." Temari admitted.

"That was your mistake." Shikamaru said grinning.

Just as Hitomi had thought, Shikamaru always thinking ahead, every move Temari had made was according to his plan. First he got Temari to retreat behind a line on the ground where she thought she was safe, then just as she let her guard down he surprised her making her retreat even farther back all the time making her think it was her idea when the whole time he had been maneuvering her closer and closer to the hole behind her.

"_I don't believe it, the whole time I had thought I was staying out of the range of the shadow jutsu but I was really walking right into it._" She thought. "_Amazing, this slacker clown outsmarted me._" Temari thought, she was done for.

"It's all over." Hitomi said smiling. Somehow she knew Shikamaru would pull through.

Shikamaru walked forward making both of them walk to the center of the arena, Temari helpless with no control over her body. Just then Shikamaru raised his hand. "Okay that's it, I give up." He said.

"Whaaat?!" Hitomi screamed from the stands. "What are you doing you idiot?!"

The crowd sat silent their mouths open what was he doing? "I knew he would give up. I guess I do know Shikamaru a bit better than you huh Hitomi?" Anko said smiling but still impressed with her student.

"I guess you're right, after that battle there was no way he would want to go onto another one…but still." Hitomi said disappointed.

"What? What did you say?" Temari asked surprised.

"I used up all my Chakra on that shadow possession jutsu, I'm good for about another ten seconds and that's it. Bummer, and here I'd already planned out the next 200 moves in my head, but my chakra is running low." He said putting his hand down. "Anyway, if I was to win this thing it would just be more work." He said shrugging. "And against my own teammate. No thanks."

"The winner is, Temari." The proctor said as Shikamaru's shadow possession ended.

Chapter 8

"Man I'm beat." Shikamaru said.

"I guess you could say he won the battle just lost the match. The truth is he won when he caught Temari in that shadow possession." Anko said.

His lack of drive sure was frustrating, still there was something to be said for him not having a killer instinct, and that was that he never let emotions cloud his judgment, which Hitomi was already fully aware of. He never panicked, he had the ability to calmly assess the situation and determine the best course of action. He even had the brains to retreat if he knew his position was untactful. Shikamaru had something other ninja lacked, clarity, which was a vital trait in any chunin or leader. One thing was for sure, Shikamaru had a better chance than anyone else to become a chunin even if he did give up. There was no point in trying to complete a mission if the whole team would be wiped out, not like Naruto, Neji and Kami had all done.

The next battle was ready to commence, Sasuke and Gaara. Seconds before Sasuke was eliminated he showed up with Kakashi sensei. Late as always, it was a good thing they didn't disqualify Sasuke during his first match. Shikamaru quickly made his way up the stairs only to meet Hitomi halfway, and the both of them stopped in their tracks as Gaara walked by between them. Neither Hitomi nor Shikamaru moved, they could both tell blood was on Gaara's mind and neither of them wanted to be that blood. Once Gaara was down and into the arena Hitomi made her way to Shika.

"What were you thinking out there you moron?!" Hitomi yelled grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and shaking him. "Leaving me all alone! The only one on our team still in this, are you crazy?! You totally had that battle won! Then you and I could've fought!"

"Woah calm down!" Shikamaru yelled scared for his life.

"I can't believe after all that, after all that you have been through on these exams you just gave up! Don't you want to be a chunin?!" Hitomi continued to yell but released his shirt pushing him away.

"Nah, like I said before it really doesn't matter to me either way. It would just be more work if I had gone and won the fight, and fighting you definitely isn't on the top of my to-do list. I get enough of that, it would be a total drag." Shikamaru said beginning to walk up the stairs again.

"Yeah, but if I fought you then I could actually win, and I wouldn't have to worry about you killing me, but fighting that girl who knows how that will go." Hitomi said following him.

"Don't worry about it, you'll be fine, don't you want to go and watch the next battle? It's going to be intense." Shikamaru said. "Even I'm kind of excited."

"No…I think I'll go see how Kami is doing if they'll let me." Hitomi said dropping her head. "She had slipped my mind during your fight, but I'm worried now. Her injuries looked really bad, worse than Rock Lee's injuries and I hear his days as a ninja are over."

"Yeah…what a drag. Not that I care or anything, but I hope Kami didn't die, I mean for the sake of the team." Shikamaru said not wanting to admit for any reason that Kami's death would mean anything to him.

"Just admit it already, you two are friends." Hitomi teased pushing him in the arm.

"No way, she's a total pain. She's bull headed and irrational. Not my type of person. Mostly she's just annoying." Shikamaru said putting his hands behind his head and looking over at Hitomi. "But uh…just let me know how things turn out. I'm going to go watch the next match." Shikamaru said continuing up the stairs, but stopping and turning around again. "Hey, Hitomi do you remember what Gaara said yesterday?"

"Huh?" she asked confused. "Which part?"

"When he said that all the same he would kill us, kill us all, but then he didn't do it just now. It was the perfect opportunity, but he…I don't know, it was like he didn't even see us or something." Shikamaru said.

"I guess you and I weren't the one he wanted to kill…but Sasuke, Kami…" Hitomi said thinking about it.

"Let's just not think about it for now." Shikamaru said finally making his way back into the crowd.

Hitomi made her way down the hall to the infirmary. "Can I see her?" she asked once outside Kami's door. Two guards were standing watch.

"I wouldn't. She is in very serious condition; she'll be transported to the hospital soon. You should just go back and watch the match." The guard insisted.

"No, I think I'll stay even if I'm not allowed inside. I have no interest of watching Gaara or Sasuke, I don't care for either one, the one I'm worried about is in that room dying." Hitomi argued.

"Well then, fine I won't stop you from sitting in the hall, but you can't go inside." The guard said.

"Fine." Hitomi said angrily sinking to the floor and crossing her arms pouting.

Meanwhile out on the arena Sasuke was mimicking Lee's exact moves from when Lee fought Gaara. Gaara was literally getting tossed around the arena, Sasuke barely breaking a sweat meanwhile Gaara's chakra level was weakening by the minute. Sasuke had copied Lee's taijutsu with his sharingan and spent his entire month mastering it.

Gaara had had enough; he made a sand shield around himself, no more games. Sasuke's attacks did nothing to him now, he only hurt his own hand, and his hits only made the sand shoot out spikes and cut Sasuke all over. His attacks were worthless now, that was, all his normal attacks. Sasuke still had one more surprise up his sleeve.

Sasuke jumped and flipped backwards climbing up onto the wall and did several hand signs preparing for some kind of jutsu no one had seen him use before. Lighting began forming in Sasuke's hand, Sasuke was supposed to have fire nature jutsu but this lightning was new. He flew down the wall towards Gaara holding his arm to keep his hand ready for the attack.

Sasuke dodged the spikes from Gaara's sand and smashed his attack into the sand breaking through the defense. Sasuke had mastered Kakashi's one move that he hadn't copied from someone else, and Sasuke did it in one month. The Chidori, or the lightning blade, had penetrated through the sand defense shoving into Gaara's chest making an actual injury and causing Gaara to bleed.

Gaara screamed seeing his own blood, and Sasuke just barely managed to pull out of the sand defense as some kind of demon arm followed Sasuke through the hole before retreating back inside the sand defense. Something growled inside the ball of sand then, whatever was in there it wasn't the same Gaara as before.

When the sand shell finally broke it revealed once again a normal looking Gaara, but the look in his eyes was different as Gaara gasped for air, but before anything else happened in the battle suddenly everyone began falling asleep in the crowd, even Shikamaru collapsed onto the ground, some type of genjutsu and only Kakashi, Guy, Sakura and a few other higher level Shinobi realized what was happening.

Just then as everyone in the crowd had fallen asleep smoke appeared in the stands where the Hokage sat, whatever it was Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara were involved in it though no one knew yet. Hitomi only heard some type of explosion out in the stands and stood up not sure what was going on.

"What was that?" The guards asked.

Just then Hitomi jumped away from the Kami's door as some type of red light began to emanate from under it. "Kami?" Hitomi asked. The guards had no idea what was happening inside all any of them knew was that Kami was screaming. "Kami I'm coming!" Hitomi yelled about to open the door.

"No don't! We don't know what's going on in there!" A guard yelled.

"I don't care my friend is dying in there!" Hitomi yelled. "I won't stand by and do nothing!" and then she burst through the door.

Blinded by the light emerging from somewhere in the room she had no idea what was happening. All Hitomi saw was that as the light faded Kami's body slowly lay back down on the table. Whatever had happened Kami had just been levitating in the air. Hitomi's mouth dropped open, what had she just seen?

"Kami?!" Hitomi yelled confused. "Kami are you alright?!"

"Wha…huh?" Kami asked sitting up.

"Don't get up what are you doing?" Hitomi asked.

"What are you talking about? I feel fine." Kami argued cracking her back.

Hitomi just blinked. "What? But your arm is crushed your shoulder dislocated. Nearly every single one of your ribs is broken or crack, your leg wound bleeding profusely."

"Well, I don't know about any of that but I feel fine now. My leg is still a bit sore but…" Kami said looking at her leg.

Hitomi's eyes widened, her leg wound, it had healed nearly completely. "How?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Hitomi, where am I?" Kami asked.

"You're in the infirmary. Gaara nearly killed you." Hitomi explained.

"Oh…I remember." Kami said standing up off the bed. Her recovery was amazing, even the guards and the medics in her room were speechless, not moving. Kami stretched and yawned. "So anyway what did I miss? Let's hurry up and go watch the rest of the battles!"

"Are you crazy?! You're walking around like you didn't just almost die!" Hitomi yelled. "You aren't going anywhere."

"Hitomi, look I'm fine now, no use in dwelling on the past right?" Kami asked getting annoyed.

"Well…I did hear some weird sounds coming from the stands, let go check it out, quick." Hitomi said.

"That's more like it." Kami answered grinning as the two of them ran past the shocked guards and medics and out to the stands.

Outside in the stands, the Hokage had been captured and was currently being held in a barricade with…Orochimaru, the one true enemy of the leaf village and well every other village or so it was thought. Apparently the Sand village was working alongside Orochimaru and so was the hidden sound. Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara were gone and Sasuke had chased after them. Kakashi and Guy were fighting in the stands. What was Orochimaru's objective here? Hitomi remembered hearing Anko talking about Orochimaru before.

He used to be her sensei and then one day he just tossed her off to the side leaving her with a curse mark on her neck, a mark which often times gave her pain. Speaking of Anko sensei she was nowhere to be seen. Hitomi and Kami ran out and saw Naruto and Shikamaru lying on the ground passed out. Kakashi had just given Sakura orders to release them from the genjutsu.

"Sakura, release the genjutsu and wake Naruto and Shikamaru. Naruto will be delighted getting a mission after such a long time. You'll have to be careful on this one, it's the first A rank assignment since the land of the waves." Kakashi said turning for a moment as he blocked an attack to see Hitomi and Kami. "Kami you're awake? And walking? Hitomi take Kami back to the infirmary now and stay there."

"But sensei…whatever it is Shikamaru is part of our team, if he is going on this mission the two of us will as well. What is this mission anyway?" Hitomi asked.

"Sasuke is chasing Gaara and the other sand ninja, I want you to wake Naruto and Shikamaru, Sakura, and follow Sasuke." Kakashi ordered.

"Sensei, then shouldn't we wake everyone else and go as a group?" Sakura asked.

"No time, I suspect many sound and sand village shinobi have already infiltrated the village. Besides if you have more than the four ninja essential to a squad it becomes hard to get anything done, and more difficult to hide from the enemy. That's why I want you and Kami to go to the infirmary Hitomi." Kakashi ordered looking at Hitomi.

"I'm sorry sensei, I won't let my comrade go off and join another team, not when both his teammates are able and willing to help." Hitomi said.

"I don't have time to argue about this, fine go with them. I can't leave this place so…" Kakashi said doing a few hands signs and placing his hand on the ground. "Summoning jutsu!" he proceeded to say as his dog Pakkun appeared. "He'll be going with you to help track Sasuke and the others by scent."

"Our last member is a puppy?" Sakura asked.

"Alright, listen little girl, don't you dare go around saying I'm just some cute puppy." Pakkun said climbing into her face.

"It's time, go release the genjutsu." Kakashi ordered fighting more enemies.

Sakura crawled over to Naruto and Shikamaru and quickly released their genjutsu one at a time. Naruto woke up instantly Sakura pulling him down to dodge a kunai, but Shikamaru on the other hand…Shikamaru's eyes twitched before Sakura could do anything.

"Shikamaru…"Hitomi said annoyed glaring at him. "You were…this whole time?" just then Pakkun walked up to Shikamaru and bit his leg. Shikamaru sat up screaming and waving his limbs around trying to get Pakkun off. "You release genjutsu too, you big faker?! Why were you pretending to be asleep this whole time?!"

"I didn't want to get involved." Shikamaru said pulling Pakkun off and holding him by the fur on his neck while squeezing Pakkun's mouth and pulling on his cheeks. "Just give me a break; I couldn't care less about Sasuke." He said releasing Pakkun's cheek making it smack back to his face. Pakkun growled and bit Shikamaru's hand after that making Shikamaru scream in pain.

"Pakkun!" Hitomi yelled at the two of them fought to get the dog off.

A sound village ninja appeared behind Naruto then but Guy knocked him into the wall, he was so fast, and powerful. He even shoved the ninja through the wall not just into it.

"Alright listen." Kakashi said. "First, I want you to find Sasuke and stop him, then I want you all to find a safe place to hide and await further orders."

"Did something happen to Sasuke?!" Naruto asked.

"I'll tell you what happened on the way, let's go!" Sakura said grabbing Naruto and jumping through the hole Guy had just made.

"Why me? What a drag." Shikamaru said.

"Listen whiner." Pakkun said.

"Huh?" Shikamaru said looking at the dog confused, it could talk, and in English.

"Look, if this mission is a success as a reward I'll let you touch my paw, well my pads. So there's no reason to sulk." Pakkun said.

Hitomi and Kami just looked at Pakkun silently. "What?" Shikamaru said relaying what they were all thinking.

"Come on." Pakkun said holding his paw up showing Shikamaru his pads. "They're really soft."

"They're…what?" Shikamaru asked with a confused look on his face.

"No one ever wants to shake…" Pakkun said lowering his head. "But my paws are so soft and supple!" Pakkun yelled shoving his paw back in Shikamaru's face. Shikamaru just sat there silent looking at Pakkun like he was crazy. "Forget it let's go." Pakkun said biting Shikamaru's hand and yanking him through the hole in the door as Shikamaru's eyes widened and he yelled in pain and confusing.

"Hey…uh…wait up." Hitomi said following them out of the hole, Kami right behind her.

"Aw man why did you have to pull me into all of this, it's such a drag." Shikamaru said as they ran through the forest.

"It can't be helped okay, it's Kakashi sensei's order!" Sakura said.

"Well, we sure got past Kakashi sensei's order." Kami said grinning.

"This way!" Pakkun said then leading them off towards Sasuke.

"Right!" They all responded following him.

"How long until we catch up?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know, a long time if they keep up this pace." Pakkun admitted trudging ahead. "Come on you guys hurry it up!" Pakkun said suddenly.

"What did you sense something?" Hitomi asked.

"Yes there are two squads following us, that's eight ninja…no wait there is one more. That's nine ninja following us." Pakkun said.

"Aw man come on already, give me a break here!" Shikamaru exclaimed.

"It looks like they haven't discovered our location, yet. We need to lose them." Pakkun said but then stopped.

"Come on, what's the deal why are we stopping?!" Naruto asked frustrated.

"Zip it and follow me." Pakkun said walking backwards. "We're going back over our footprints. If we pull this off our footprints will seem to disappear."

Hitomi smiled, good idea Pakkun, let's hope they could pull it off. She obeyed and so did everyone else walking backwards over their footsteps and jumping into their trees carefully.

"Is this really going to do anything? They'd have to be pretty lame ninja if this throws them off the trail." Kami said.

"It will help buy us some time, that's all we need now." Pakkun said. "But if our pursuers get impatient, succumb to the thrill of the chase and lose sight of our tracks, I certainly won't complain. Know what I mean?" Pakkun said.

"Sounds good to me." Hitomi agreed. Kakashi was right however, having this many ninja was going to be a hassle. Five ninja plus Pakkun and when they found Sasuke that's even more.

"Hurry up!" Sakura yelled from the tree waiting on Naruto.

"We don't have all day you know." Shikamaru said annoyed.

"I know okay quit bugging me!" Naruto yelled back finally jumping up into the tree.

After jumping into the tree they continued moving forward hoping their followers would be thrown off by their trail on the ground; however Pakkun soon realized that this in fact wasn't true. Quickly their pursuers were back on the trail and catching up.

"This isn't good, be ready for an ambush, they're definitely back on our trail." Pakkun said continuing to jump through the trees.

"Aw great, they're probably all chunin or higher, we'll be wiped out if they catch us." Shikamaru said.

"Hey listen up; we don't have a lot of options here. We're going to have to ambush them, and Shikamaru quit being so negative all the time. There are five of us you know." Hitomi ordered.

"An ambush? That could work." Sakura agreed. "It would give us an advantage even if there are more of them than there are of us, if we just catch them off guard…"

"No, it's no good. Those ninja chasing us are Orochimaru's henchmen. My guess is they're all jounin level." Pakkun said.

"Man and I really thought that would work, but I guess it won't." Shikamaru said aggravated.

"Wait why not? The level of the opponent doesn't have anything to do with an ambush." Kami said.

"Ugh, you guys just don't get it. Yes an ambush is a key battle tactic and it could be very beneficial, but for it to work you have to meet two conditions. Number one" Shikamaru said holding up one finger. "The ninja on the run must be completely quiet, and must find the enemy first. Number two." Shikamaru continued holding up a second finger as they all continued to travel through the trees. "They have to be able to catch the pursuers off guard at a location where they can do a lot of damage quickly, and then conceal themselves again just as quickly, and it's only under those two conditions that an ambush can truly be effective. Now the first condition won't be so hard since the ninja hound's nose can find our enemy, and the second one also seems to be in our favor since we know the geography of our village like the backs of our hands, however, Orochimaru is a former leaf ninja so on the second condition we're out of luck."

"We are, wait why is that again?" Kami and Naruto asked.

"Our pursuers have studied the layout of this village and I have to assume they have been put through simulated practices for this mission, and on top of that they're probably masters of the pursuit jutsu." Shikamaru explained.

"So what they know all the cards we're holding?" Sakura asked.

"Well I don't really know, I suppose an ambush could give us an advantage but so many things are uncertain. Besides our enemy is a special unit that was specifically put together just for this operation, and what are we? A fool." He said referring to Naruto, "A kunoichi with no particular talent" he continued referring to Sakura. "A mutt, a bull headed pain in the ass, another kunoichi whose abilities we don't really know anything about and should be back taking care of her friend, and me, the shirker who doesn't even want to be here." He finished.

By this point every single one of them was glaring at Shikamaru, who did he think he was labeling them all like that. They had all come to help a friend and he was just telling them how they worthless they were and how they shouldn't even be here. Well they would just have to prove him wrong. Kami after all wanted to punch him so hard; she just needed to wait until the perfect moment and then she would show him those severe injuries of hers and just how they were doing.

"Look tactics are about grasping the situation and formulating the best plan, and right now only one plan makes sense, just one." Shikamaru said.

"And what's that?" Hitomi asked.

"A diversion that only looks like an ambush, so one of us is going to stay behind and slow them down." Shikamaru explained.

"So one of us will be a decoy." Saukra said realizing his plan.

"That's right, if one of us can delay them, they shouldn't be able to find the rest of us. We'll be able to escape, of course the one who acts as a decoy will probably…die." Shikamaru said making everyone stop. "So, who's going to do it? We need the dog to follow Sasuke so that means…"

"Alright I guess that I'm…" Naruto began.

"I'm the only one who can do it." Shikamaru interrupted.

"Shikamaru!" Hitomi exclaimed. "Why you?"

"It's better than all of us being wiped out right?" He said. "Besides, I'm the only one who has a chance of pulling off this decoy act, and of surviving this attack. I mean after all shadow possession jutsu was invented as a delay tactic; anyway I'll catch up with you later. Go on get going." Shikamaru finished.

"We're counting on you Shikamaru!" Naruto said as Shikamaru waved them off. "Alright Sakura."

Sakura nodded and the two of them plus Pakkun headed off Kami following behind. Hitomi followed a ways then stopped, when had Shikamaru become this dedicated? All on his own he made this choice, but there were five of them there was no reason Shikamaru had to stay back by himself. Her suspicions got the better of her and she turned around. Kami looked back and stopped what was Hitomi up to? Hitomi just shook her head and waved Kami on to follow the other two. Kami nodded and went on ahead following Sakura, Naruto and Pakkun off to find Sasuke and hopefully the sand ninja. Hitomi just ran back to find Shikamaru, he would never do that, or in better terms she would never let him just run off.

Up ahead with Pakkun and the other three ninja Pakkun realized that the enemy was still closing in on them. "Listen, the enemy is coming up fast; I wonder if he is even trying back there." Pakkun said.

"What?!" Sakura exclaimed thinking back to how Shikamaru had said he was a shirker who didn't even want to be there, he hadn't really decided he was going to leave did he?

"Hey, Shikamaru will be just fine." Naruto said.

"Don't tell me that he just ran away!" Sakura said.

"He wouldn't do that okay! I said he'll be fine and I meant it." Naruto said.

"But how do you know?!" Sakura yelled.

"I know because Hitomi stayed back there with him. She wouldn't let him run off without doing his part, trust me." Kami said grinning.

Hitomi found him then. "Man I can't believe I managed to get away." Shikamaru said resting against a tree. She growled and balled her fists angrily; Shikamaru really was doing nothing after all! Just then she looked up to see the pursuers stop and examine the footprints on the ground. He was near them now he better actually do something.

"His footprints have become irregular; anxiety must be getting the better of him." One of the sound ninja said.

"Oops sorry." Shikamaru said having stepped away from the tree and pulled of his shadow possession on all of the ninja. "I was supposed to be the guy who didn't want to get involved, but I guess I'm not quite what you had expected am I?" Hitomi tilter her head in shock, heck maybe he didn't need any help. "You're right about one thing, I'm tired, but everything else you're wrong. Our footprints for example, this is what I used to make the paw prints." Shikamaru said holding up some pieces of wood he had placed together to look like Pakkun's paw.

Hitomi saw his shadow faltering, he was tired no doubt, he wouldn't be able to hold his shadow possession for long, on his best day he could only hold it for a few minutes and now he had just fought a battle and run for a long time, he wouldn't last more than a minute or two, maybe not even that long.

"Why he's just a kid, I can't believe we got caught by this." Another sound ninja said. "So this is the leaf shadow paralysis jutsu we have heard about?"

"Heh, yeah if you want to call it by that old name, but I'm afraid you're behind the times, now it's called shadow possession jutsu old man." Shikamaru said. He began breathing heavily then, his chakra was still low, he hadn't had any time to recover from his last fight. He pulled shuriken from his pocket then and counted the ninja. "_One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight…Wait a minute eight? No there should be nine Pakkun said. Of course, the ninth one is supposed to protect against an ambush. He stays a way behind the group, a reserve in case of an enemy attack._" He thought pulling out kunai from his other pocket. "_But I know what to do, this attack will draw out that ninth ninja and reveal where he is hiding._" He thought throwing the kunai only for them to be deflected. Once he figured out where the ninth ninja was he attempted a shadow possession, but it wouldn't reach, and he didn't have enough stamina or chakra to use to make it go that far.

"It's futile kid I see right through your technique. It looks like you're at your limit. This shadow possession jutsu of yours is going to fail soon, so prepare yourself." A sound ninja said.

Shikamaru sighed and looked up to the clouds. "_All I really wanted was to be just an average shinobi, making an average living. I'd marry a regular girl whose not super pretty or super ugly, have two kids, a girl and then a boy, retire when my daughter got married and my son became a successful ninja, and spend the rest of my days just playing shoji or go. A nice carefree leisurely retirement, and then I'd die of old age before my wife. Yep that's the life I wanted, and yet I ended up exerting myself. It's so unlike me, even though I wanted to finish as just a regular guy I had to and get myself into this sticky situation._" He thought.

Hitomi laughed, she had heard every word, Shikamaru wanting to marry a girl and have kids? And she thought he didn't like doing work, but wait a minute he hadn't said that out loud had he? She rubbed her head; she definitely hadn't imagined all that. It didn't matter she shook it off, she would wait and see how Shikamaru took the situation, the last thing she wanted to do was step in when he had a plan and ruin it. If he needed her help, then she would step in. All this while ahead in the group with Pakkun and Kami, Pakkun realized that the ninja weren't following them anymore, now they all just needed to find Sasuke.

"Well as you say it appears I'm at my limit." Shikamaru said his shadow possession retracting.

"Hey come on out." A sound ninja said. "And when you do, cut off his head."

Just then a sound ninja dropped down from the trees ready to cut Shikamaru's head clean off, but Hitomi jumped out and knocked the guy against a tree, making sure to hit his head especially hard with her force knocking him out. "You didn't think I would really follow those guys and let you die did you?" she asked dropping down softly next to Shikamaru his face like he had seen a ghost, he really had thought he was going to die there.

"Hitomi?! I didn't think…" Shikamaru said.

"Just shut up already. I'll handle this." She said grinning.

She was just about to become a chunin hopefully but she handled the situation like a full on jounin. After that last battle she fought something had happened within her, her chakra levels had increased, her abilities more than twice as effective as before and now easier to control, she wasn't sure what had stirred within her but she eyes could see everything. She sprang to attack, using special kunai she had, she fused her chakra into the blade, something she was just beginning to learn, and swung her attacks at each opponent. Hitting each one of them with her type of chakra was like hitting each of them with a 100lb hammer throwing them across the forest and into trees or rolling them across the ground.

The threw kunai at her trying to attack her but she just deflected them constantly sending waves of her energy, forces, away from her body preventing any weapons from reaching her. Two came up behind her; she just threw her fists back and, using her gravity, hit them in the face knocking them across the woods, down and out. One left, she thought…where was he? Left, right? No, she looked up and waited for him to fall creating a small barrier just above her head in which he landed only to be blasted back into the air and tossed uncontrollably into the trees.

Shikamaru just looked at her and then around at the knocked out bodies before collapsing to the ground. "I really thought I was going to die back there." He said sighing.

"You did well; I'm impressed you really tried to hold them off at all. I assumed you ran off." Hitomi said placing her hands on her hips and smiling at him.

"Yeah but this whole day was way too much work." He said sighing again and looking into the sky.

"Don't worry, just stay here. You've done enough. No need to go ahead, they three of them and Pakkun can handle it. Plus Sasuke." Hitomi said sitting down by him.

Up ahead with Temari and Kankuro they realized they had more pursuers while back with Kami and Pakkun they were trying to move faster, Sakura and Naruto hoping Sasuke wouldn't do something foolish.

"I sense that Sasuke has stopped moving but he is still a long way ahead of us." Pakkun said.

"If Sasuke stopped that means he must've caught up to them." Kami said.

"Huh? Did I just smell what I think I smelled?" Pakkun said stopping in his tracks.

"What is it? Did you smell come kind of trouble or something?" Sakura asked.

"It's strange I never noticed it before…" Pakkun said even everyone waited in anticipation. "Saukra did you know you used the same shampoo I do?" Sakura's face when white and her mouth dropped open. "Minty rainforest mist right? With extra body?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Naruto and Kami yelled together raising their fists ready to hit Pakkun, Kami didn't care if he was a dog.

"But I wonder why my coat looks so much glossier than yours." Pakkun said Sakura's whole body just going white as she collapsed to the ground in shame.

"Will you knock it off already?!" Naruto yelled "Now is no time to be talking about hair products!"

"Sorry, just making an observation." Pakkun said.

"I smell like a dog." Sakura said repeating herself over and over again feeling lower than she ever felt. "I smell like a dog…I smell like a dog…I smell like a dog…" she trailed off slowly jumping away from the group.

"You won't get very far without me!" Pakkun yelled as the rest of them followed her.

Chapter 9

"There it is." Pakkun said finally after traveling for what seemed like ages.

"What Kaminari's shampoo?" Naruto asked annoyed.

"No, I smell Sasuke, but Kaminari your shampoo is rather nice as well." Pakkun said. All three ninja sighed, oh Pakkun. "He's not alone I smell others with him, he's caught up to them."

"Finally." Kami said.

"They're closer together and they've stopped moving, that could mean a fight." Pakkun said. "We better hurry. It smells like we aren't the only one's tracking Sasuke there is something else out there."

"Really where?" Naruto asked.

"Who is it? Friend or Foe?" Sakura wondered aloud.

"I don't know but…it isn't human." Pakkun answered. "Uh oh…" he said after that stopping once again. "Smells like they're in motion, Sasuke and two of the others and they're moving fast. Smells like Sasuke is chasing them, but there are two more still there not moving."

"So what, who cares about them we've got to catch up to Sasuke come on!" Naruto yelled.

"What now Pakkun?" Kami asked crossing her arms annoyed. "Why aren't we moving still?"

"The two of them that are left are about to fight, I can smell it." Pakkun answered. "Even if it means losing some time we should go around them just to be safe."

"Are you crazy? We don't have time to lose time! So what if they're fighting bid deal, I say full speed ahead!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto you idiot, will you grow up. Who knows what would happen if we get caught in the crossfire. If we want to get Sasuke and Gaara ultimately the fastest way would be to go around, now let's stop wasting time." Kami said.

"What are you talking about? Going through…" Naruto began.

"Listen here kid, our mission is to bring Sasuke back, we should try and avoid any fighting if possible let alone go out and look for it." Pakkun said jumping off to the side to go around the fight.

"Finally, we're moving again, such a waste of time." Kami said annoyed as always.

They arrived just in time seeing Gaara, half demon making his way to crush an immobile Sasuke. Naruto managed to land a kick and knock Gaara away saving Sasuke's life just barely. Kami landed next to Naruto staring at Gaara, what was her? Then she remembered he was some kind of sand demon. Naruto and Kami stood by watching Gaara while Sakura and Pakkun assessed Sasuke. Sasuke's curse mark was acting up and he had used most his chakra.

"Hey…Saukra…this guy over here, who is he?" Naruto asked.

"Can't you tell you moron, look at him he may look a little different but it's clearly Gaara." Kami said already having figured that out.

"Hey little girl." Pakkun said to Sakura. "I guess now is a good time to tell you I'm not the fighting type."

"I can see that by looking at you!" Sakura yelled already on her last nerve with Pakkun from the shampoo ordeal. All she could think about was getting Sasuke away to somewhere safe.

"Guys get up we have to go now!" Naruto yelled looking up a second too late to see Gaara flying towards Sasuke at incredible speed.

Sakura jumped in front of Sasuke protecting him and for a second she stopped Gaara in his tracks, but he wasn't going to let some dumb girl get in his way. He threw his demon arm out and grabbed her smashing her up against a tree and pinning her there. Kami stood but, she had already lost against Gaara once and that was without him being half demon, she didn't even know where to begin and if she attacked she could just as easily become Gaara's next target, she was much happier keeping Gaara's main goal on Sasuke, like she cared what happened to him.

"This is definitely not good. What the heck do we do now? What now?!" Naruto yelled confused.

"Don't ask me you watched me get pummeled didn't you? According to some people I should be dead, or at least not moving." Kami answered.

Gaara thought back then to a time when he had tried to stab himself but his sand blocked it. What was pain? He had never felt it before, but no he had felt pain. Pain in his heart was there all the time, he knew he wasn't bleeding but there was still pain. Pain to the heart was different than pain to the flesh, there was no medicine for a wounded heart and sometimes it never did heal. The only thing that could mend a broken heart was love. "_Love is the heart's desire to serve someone precious to you, to watch over them, to care for them like my sister did for you._" That was what Yashamaru, his mother's brother, had told him when he was just a child. He had told Gaara that the shukaku was like the love of his mother, rushing to protect him at every moment, Yashamaru believed that her will was carried in every grain of the sand. Yashamaru was the only person who held Gaara so dear…but he was gone now, Gaara was alone now. All he could remember now was how even when he tried to help people, tried being nice they all ran away and called him a freak. Why did everyone despise him?

Just like Kami, he was alone. No one standing around her cared for her, Sakura only was worried about Sasuke, Naruto about them both but who cared about her? Hitomi had stayed back to help Shikamaru, they cared for each other, why didn't Kami have someone who cared for her like that? Just like Gaara, just like Naruto people used to treat Kami like such a freak and even now most people just ignored her existence, no one seemed to notice she was even around most of the time. She probably could've left this earth and no one would care.

In the end, even Yashamaru tried to kill Gaara, that was ultimately what set him off, the rage in his heart fueled by remembering how the only person who had cared for him had died, had died by Gaara's own hand, by his own hand when Yashamaru tried to kill him. Gaara held his head remembering back to all those time, he held it in pain, he knew what the worst kind of pain felt like, was it worth it what his father had done to him? He now suffered from the worst kind of pain there was only to be protected from almost any kind of physical pain, Gaara when he was younger would've wished his fate to be different, but now all he wanted was blood, to prove his existence.

"What's the matter? Aren't you about to make a run for it?" Gaara growled. Sakura whispered her teammates names then as Sasuke lay on the ground trembling in pain and Naruto stood by confused looking at her and then at Sasuke. "Who are these two to you? Who are they to you?!"

"Huh? Who are they to me? They're my friend is who they are! You so much as lay another finger on them and I will pulverize you!" Naruto yelled pointing at Gaara.

"You have such a big mouth Naruto and nothing smart ever comes from it you idiot." Kami said standing above them in a tree. What did she care how this fight went anyway? She only came along because of Hitomi, and that Gaara kid. She wasn't sure why but something about him made her want to be near him, like he needed somebody and whether he liked it or not she was going to be there whether in hate or love.

Gaara growled and tightened his grip on Sakura making her scream out in pain. "What's the matter?! Weren't you going to pulverize me? Well come on then!" Gaara yelled.

"You're on! I'm taking you down!" Naruto yelled jumping at Gaara; only Gaara's tail whacked him into a tree as he had another flashback.

Sitting on the ground crying his eyes out in front of Yashamaru's dying body. He didn't understand why the one person who cared about him had tried to kill him, resulting in Gaara killing Yashamaru. He thought he was precious to Yashamaru, he didn't understand how he could do such a thing. But Yashamaru explained something just before his death, the Kazekage, Gaara's own father had sent Yashamaru to kill Gaara. His father knew Gaara could never control the Shukaku; he wanted Gaara dead before he became a threat to the village.

"You had to obey my father, you didn't have any choice." Gaara had said to Yashamaru.

"No, you're wrong, I had a choice. Yes, lord Kazekage made his wishes come to me, but I could've refused if I had chosen to. I suppose it's because deep in my heart I hate you Gaara, I always hated you. My sister died bringing you into this world, I can't forgive you for that. I told myself that you were all that was left of her and since I loved her I should love you. I tried but I never could. It was her choice to have you, to be made a human sacrifice, and so she died cursing this village, and the day she died I felt a wound in my heart I knew would never heal." Yashamaru had said.

Gaara remembered, a wound to the heart was the worst kind, and sometimes they never healed. "Your name is the one your mother gave you. Your name is Gaara, a demon that loves only himself, as you must love no one else, care for no one's existence but your own, fight only for yourself, and that way you would be sure to survive, that was the dying wish your mother gave you. But not out of maternal affection, it was not from love that she gave you your name, it was from her undying rage at this village, it was part of her curse that you should survive and grow, her hate lives on in you. You were never loved Gaara…never." Yashamaru had said "But now…this is the end." He had told Gaara as he opened his vest and revealed himself covered in paper bombs, a human explosion in a last attempt to kill Gaara, but still Gaara's sand automatically rushed to protect him.

Yashamaru had lied, Gaara's mother had never loved him, Yashamaru had never loved him. Gaara had always been alone. At that moment when Yashamaru had killed himself in an attempt to kill Gaara, that moment was when Gaara's rage first overtook him. He cared for no one, no one but himself. That was Gaara, he was alone, he no longer cared about anyone, and he never would love anyone else. He was all that mattered.

When Gaara's flashback finally stopped his rage levels were increased. "What's the matter? Why don't you attack?!" he yelled towards Naruto. "Don't you care what happens to your precious friends?!" Gaara growled tightening his demon arm around Sakura again.

"Let her go!" Naruto yelled in anger. "_I've got to find a way to save Sakura no matter what. But how?_" Naruto thought to himself. "_That's it! This is going to use up a heck of a lot of chakra but it's time to bring in the chief toad!_" he thought biting his finger to make a summoning jutsu. "Summoning jutsu!" he yelled placing his hand on the tree and only summoning a tiny little toad.

"What do you want kid? Well whatever you want I hope you brought along some treats 'cause if you think I'm doing anything for nothing guess what? You're wrong!" the small toad said.

"Will you give me a break?! I'm really starting to hate you little frogs!" Naruto yelled. He couldn't believe that was all he could summon; well he would have to make do.

"Fighting for others was your big mistake. When I fight, I fight for me and me alone." Gaara growled as he began to turn his entire body into the demon beast.

"Naruto I don't know what kind of plan you have, but if I were you I don't think I would mess with that thing." Kami said just watching the battle from above, not caring how it ended.

"Will you just shut up?! You should be helping me!" Naruto yelled.

"Helping you? Like I could care what happens to any of you!" Kami yelled back. "I'm more interesting in watching the fight itself."

"Well you're no use!" Naruto exclaimed extremely agitated.

"You should be lucky I haven't pummeled you to death yet. You're so annoying." Kami said watching as Gaara finished his second part of the transformation, the only thing normal left being his legs.

Naruto fell silent as Gaara detached part of his arm leaving Sakura smashed against the tree and regenerating the part he just broke off with more sand. "Only by attacking and defeating me can you free her, and you should hurry, with each passing second the sand hardens crushing her to death." Gaara said grinning. Kami was rather interested in how Naruto planned on defeating this demon so she made herself comfortable within view but out of range.

Gaara threw out sand shuriken which traveled nearly twice as fast as normal shuriken and Naruto just barely dodged them picking up his toad and falling down several branches of trees. Naruto and Kami both looked at Gaara; even from a distance they could see the loneliness in his eyes. Maybe Gaara being alone was what made him strong though, maybe it was a weakness to have friends to care about, they seemed like they only got in the way. Naruto standing there to save Sakura and Sasuke was putting his own life at risk, to Gaara that wasn't even comprehendible and to Kami she could barely imagine doing that for Hitomi.

"What's the matter? Are you afraid of me or are you still trying to think of the best way to save your friends? Fool! Think only of yourself, love only yourself. That is what it means to be the strongest. What's wrong, you were so bold and cocky before, show me your strength, let me grind it into dust before your eyes. Attack you coward, or I'll kill the girl right now!" Gaara growled the sand around Sakura hardening.

"Alright but you asked for it!" Naruto yelled jumping towards Gaara, his little toad friend just standing by confused. "Multi shadow clone jutsu!"

"Wind style, sand storm devastation!" Gaara yelled blowing a gigantic sand storm out from his mouth and destroying all his shadow clones. "I think I'll toy with you for a while, and watch you abandon your friends and beg for mercy before you die." Gaara continued throwing more sand shuriken at Naruto and knocking him back against a tree breaking him through several branches.

Pakkun hid in the trees scared, Sasuke lay down unable to move, and Sakura stayed knocked out against the tree. Naruto stood up, a wave of power and strength raging through his body as if he were on fire.

"What is this? You come at me and that's all you've got, all that effort and you couldn't even touch me. What a joke!" Gaara yelled in anger.

Naruto pulled a kunai out then and wrapped a paper bomb around the handle. "_I don't know how much damage this will do, but I've got to try something._" He thought to himself. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto yelled. "Here it goes! Get ready for the ultimate secret taijutsu! Naruto Uzumaki clone body slam!"

Gaara grinned and threw out his arm catching three of the clones in one hand, however a fourth clone landed on top of Gaara's hand and tossed yet another fifth clone right at Gaara. As Gaara threw out his second hand Naruto made yet another clone which jumped off the first dodging the attack. Then as he proceeded to fall down the backside of Gaara he produced another shadow clone in which he used to jump off of.

"Take this! Leaf village secret taijutsu, straight from the teachings of Kakashi sensei!" Naruto yelled putting his hand with his paper bombed Kunai forward towards Gaara. "1000 years of death!" he yelled stabbing the kunai into Gaara's butt…yes into Gaara's butt…Temari, Kami, the toad Naruto summoned and Pakkun all looked at what had just happened surprised, but then all their faces dropped in shame.

"An enema, great." Pakkun said shaking his head.

It barely fazed Gaara as he just turned around and smacked Naruto across the forest, but the damage was done. "Boom." Naruto said as the paper bomb on the kunai exploded…in Gaara's butt.

"That was actually a nice move the kid pulled." Pakkun admitted, but when the smoke dispersed only half of Gaara's body had been damaged, the sand was pouring off of his body.

When Sasuke finally stood up he ordered Naruto to save Sakura and escape, he had told Naruto that he would hold off the enemies and that if he died that was as far as he was meant to go, Sasuke didn't want to see his comrades die in front of him, but Naruto wouldn't allow that either. He stood up next to Sasuke; he was going to beat Gaara. Kami just crossed her arms, pft that move Naruto made was so ridiculous there was no way he could beat Gaara.

"Multi shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto yelled making thousands of shadow clones covering the entire surrounding area. Kami, Temari, the toad and Pakkun just stared. How had he managed so many? "I'm sorry I didn't mean to keep you waiting for so long, so get ready for an original jutsu straight from my ninja handbook." Naruto said pointing at Gaara with his real body.

"What the…how could he have summoned so many clones?!" Gaara asked looking around.

"You gotta be kidding!" Temari exclaimed

"This is amazing, I don't believe my eyes." Pakkun said smiling.

"Way to go there blondie, you're showing off a lot of promise.

"Pft, big deal." Kami whispered to herself. "Show off."

"How did you…do this?" Sasuke asked amazed.

"Sasuke why don't you just leave the rest to Naruto Uzumaki! Alright everyone look out here I go! Let's do this!" he yelled all his clones moving and speaking in sync. "Direct from Naruto's ninja handbook! Everywhere shuriken!" they all yelled throwing shuriken from every possible direction. Gaara's body hadn't recovered yet, he couldn't move so he just pulled his demon arm in front of his body and used it to protect himself. "Nar-u-to 2k" he yelled kicking Gaara into the air four separate times. "Uzumaki Barrage!" he finished punching Gaara all over his body using his thousands of clones. "From Naruto's handbook! Now we'll use both legs for a barrage of four thousand kicks!" they yelled rushing door at Gaara collapsed motionless on the ground

"No…no way…not him…there is no way…there is absolutely no way I'm going to lose to a guy like him!" Gaara screamed finally managing to stand up once again and throwing out an immense amount of sand through his fist into the air destroying mostly all or all of the shadow clones.

It wasn't until the smoke had cleared that everyone realized Gaara had just made his full transformation into the Shukaku demon, his body hundreds, maybe thousands of times bigger than it was before. "What do you know; I never thought you would bring this out of me!" Gaara yelled wrapping sand around Naruto's entire body.

Neither Naruto, nor Sasuke had any chakra left, Naruto had used all his chakra on his clones and Sasuke on his Chidori, but Naruto found it in himself to bite his finger, perform his hand signs, and managed to summon chief toad out of nowhere breaking out of the sand burial. Chief toad was nearly as big as the Shukaku after all. The only problem was Naruto couldn't very well control chief toad.

"What do you say?! Will you fight alongside me today chief toad?!" He asked excited.

"Take a hike." Chief toad said blowing smoke out of the side of his mouth. "Why go out of my way to mess with a guy like him? What am I, an idiot?" Chief toad asked.

"What?! Why, are you kidding me, you already told me you would make me your henchmen didn't you?! It's only natural a boss would want to help out his henchmen isn't it?!" Naruto yelled thumping chief toad on the head. "Don't you have any sense of duty?!"

"Yeah sure, I told you I'd make you my henchman, but we haven't even sealed the deal yet have we?" Chief toad said glowering at Naruto.

"Come on give me a break I'm not old enough to make any kind of a deal yet what's the matter with you?!" Naruto yelled shocked and angry.

"Aw come on pops don't be like that, why don't you settle down and hear the kid out?" the small toad said jumping onto Naruto's head.

"And just what do you think you're doing here Gamakichi?" Chief toad asked.

"What?! You're father and son?!" Naruto asked surprised.

"I had nothing else to do I thought I'd come along and hang out." Gamakichi said. "By the way pops that big ole lug over there was picking on me before!"

"Come again?" Chief toad said glaring at the Shukaku.

"Yeah and when he did our friend here came to my rescue." Gamakichi explained. "He went head to head and toe to toe with that monster, I'm telling you pops there is a heck of a lot more to this kid than meets the eye."

"Is that right?" Chief toad asked. "Okay kid, you're hereby accepted as my henchmen; sit by I'll show you what duty is all about. I'll take him down, but not before he's paid for what he's done, that worthless little flunky!" chief toad said taking out his gigantic samurai sword and rushing towards the Shukaku.

Chief toad landed a hit in the Shukaku's arm and managed to slice it off in one clean move, his sword flying into the air with the arm. When it landed it created such a large impact that it even managed to knock Kami out of the tree.

"Stupid toad!" She yelled getting up. "I hope you lose!"

"Interesting…interesting! Not bad Naruto Uzumaki!" Gaara, well the shukaku yelled.

"_This is bad, this is really bad, Gaara is really going to do it, I have to get out of here_." Temari thought to herself racing off in the opposite direction as the battle.

Kami watched as Temari jumped away intro the trees, where could she be off to? Kami wanted to stay and watch the fight but she felt that maybe it was about time she made herself useful and so looking back at the Shukaku she ran off to follow Temari.

Once Kami and Temari had run off Gaara appeared out of the head of the Shukaku. Chief toad explained that there was a spiritual medium between Gaara and the Shukaku and that the one possessed by the Shukaku spirit was never able to sleep soundly. By not sleeping the medium was constantly unstable which was why Gaara had so much trouble controlling when the Shukaku took over his body, however by staying awake Gaara was able to keep the power of the Shukaku in check, the only trouble that arose was when the one who possessed the demon sprit finally fell asleep. By falling asleep the true power of the Shukaku would be released and the host body would not be able to control it, and that was exactly what Gaara had in mind when he used the playing possum jutsu to make himself fall asleep. The destruction and death of others was all he wanted, and he wasn't prepared to lose to Naruto, he didn't care what it took but Gaara would win this fight.

The best way to beat the Shukaku was to first wake up Gaara and get the demon spirit back in check, however chief toad wasn't able to get close enough for a long enough amount of time for Naruto to wake Gaara up, so Chief Toad decided they needed a transformation jutsu, only when they transformed it wasn't quite what was expected. When Chief Toad and Naruto transformed together Chief Toad asked Naruto to conjure up something with fangs and claws but no one was expecting Naruto to make…the nine tailed fox.

Using the form of the nine tailed fox Naruto and Chief toad were able to get close enough to the Shukaku to transform back and give Naruto enough time to jump into the air and fall down landing a hit right across Gaara's face. Rise and shine!

"I'll wipe you from the face of the earth. I will not cease to exist!" Gaara said glaring down at Naruto the both of them on top of the Shukaku. "Believe me I will kill you."

Naruto clasped his hands together, he had to save his friends if it was the last thing he did. Focusing he called upon the nine tails chakra. Jumping at Gaara with such intense force that his sand could hardly stop Naruto, Naruto leaned his head forward and head-butted Gaara. Blood ran down Gaara and Naruto's face and slowly the Shukaku fells to pieces, turning into dust, and both of them fell into the trees, Chief Toad and Gamakichi returning to their homes leaving Gaara and Naruto alone.

Both of them had used all their chakra, no more jutsu. They both just jumped through the air across the trees in an attempt at a physical attack. Naruto out won Gaara punching him in the face but they both fell to the ground and fell unconscious, both battles ended, the battle between Naruto and Gaara but also another battle, the battle between the third Hokage and Orochimaru. The third Hokage was now dead.

Chapter 10

Temari jumped through the trees going anywhere that was away from the Shukaku, Kami trailed behind her but silently. Suddenly Temari stopped and turned around, she hadn't seen Kami had she? Quickly Kami hid out of sight, but it wasn't Kami that Temari had noticed it was someone else. Kankuro was lying on a large tree branch immobile and he had just called out for Temari with all his strength.

Back with Naruto and Gaara, Sakura had finally been released from the tree and left with Pakkun by Sasuke. Naruto was now inching his way across the ground towards Gaara. Gaara couldn't understand how Naruto had gotten so much power, he wouldn't lose to him, Gaara would not cease to exist. Both boys had flashbacks, everyone ignoring them, everyone running away, they were freaks. People used to ask them why they didn't just go away and die. Gaara unlike Naruto had no one who wanted him, no one who needed him, and now that he was losing a battle against Naruto he had no true reason for living.

"It's almost unbearable isn't it? The feeling of being all alone, I know that feeling, I've been there, in that dark and lonely place, but now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself and I won't let anyone hurt them. I won't give up and I will stop you, even if I have to kill you!" Naruto said sliding his body across the ground towards Gaara.

"But why, why would you do this for anyone but yourself?" Gaara asked confused, lying on his back not moving.

"Because they saved me from myself, they rescued me from my loneliness; they were the first to accept me for who I am. They're my friends." Naruto explained.

"Love…"Gaara said aloud, Love is the heart's desire to serve someone precious to you, to watch over them, to care for them like my sister did for you. Those words rang in Gaara's head. "Was love what made Naruto so strong?"

Sasuke landed next to Naruto then and explained that Sakura would be alright resulting in Naruto passing out finally. Temari and Kankuro had made their way back to the fight and landed in front of Gaara. All that following around Kami did and Temari just came right back to Gaara. Well that was useless; she could've stayed back and watched the fight. Not that it mattered; it didn't seem to have a good outcome, both boys lying on the ground motionless and with no chakra left. Kami looked down at them from the trees. Even the way Gaara treated them Temari and Kankuro came back for him, but why? Even Hitomi hadn't come back to the fight to see if Kami and everyone else were alright. Then there was Naruto, nearly killing himself for Sakura and even Sasuke risking his life to protect her. Like Gaara these actions made no real sense to her. At times Kami may have seemed a bit more upbeat, she may have seemed like she way happier or cared for people, but now that she thought about it she didn't. Most of the time in fact Kami was pretending to be happy just so people wouldn't call her names all the time, but in reality she probably couldn't care less about what happened to anyone but herself.

"That's enough, it's over." Gaara managed.

Kankuro helped Gaara up and wrapped Gaara's arm around his shoulder before the three of them jumped away. Something about that kid intrigued Kami, she wasn't sure why she actually felt like she might be worried about him, but she did. Not caring about Naruto, Sasuke or Sakura, Kami went off and followed Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. For the first time in her whole life Kami felt like she actually wanted to help someone, but why was it Gaara? Why did she feel so inclined to care for a boy who nearly killed her, Lee, and the sand village altogether.

"Temari…Kankuro…I'm sorry." Gaara said as the three of them ran off. Gaara was actually sorry that he may have let the two of them down; both Kami and Gaara were slowly beginning to understand what it meant to have people who cared for you and to care for others.

"Kami!" Hitomi yelled running through the trees, Shikamaru by her side.

Kami looked up to see the two of them standing on a branch, Shikamaru looking like he was ready to faint and Hitomi not looking too much better. Kami actually smiled then, a real smile, not a fake one like she would use to make herself seem normal. She needed to quit kidding herself; Hitomi was there for her right?

"Oh hey." Kami said rubbing her head. "It's over."

"Then it looks like it's time to head back." Hitomi said. "Time to go."

The three of them made their way back to the village. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura also got back to the village at their own pace and everyone rested and got bandaged up. It wouldn't be long, not long before the funeral of the Hokage.

Shikamaru walked next door to Hitomi and Kami's house and sat on their couch wearing all black waiting for them. He couldn't believe that the Hokage had died more than anyone else could. He held his head in his hands waiting for both girls so they could travel to the funeral together, and when they came down, both wearing all black, they walked without saying a word. Each person grieved for the Hokage placing flowers on his grave, Shikamaru, Hitomi and Kami hadn't been extremely close to the Hokage but it didn't matter, he was the leader of their land and now he was gone.

A tear ran down Hitomi's face but she wiped it away quickly. It was a shinobi rule, never show your feelings, and keep your mind focused on the mission no matter how much you're hurting inside you can't shed a tear. What would they do with no Hokage now? She took a breath as it began raining and walked up to the place where they had been setting the flowers. She had no memories of the Hokage that stuck out, but it didn't matter, his death had been a great tragedy. Shikamaru was next, he remembered the Hokage chasing him and his friends around when they tried to skip class or yelling at them for falling asleep. Placing his flower down with the rest he walked back to his spot, Kami was next. She placed her flower quickly but she had no thoughts on the Hokage, he was simply someone who made the rules.

When the funeral ended and everyone made their way back to their homes Hitomi realized that the exams had never finished, was no one to become a chunin then? All that effort surely wouldn't be wasted would it? Hitomi sighed and turned to Kami, then to Shikamaru, Kami had nearly died and no one was going to become chunin, Lee his days as a ninja were over, Kami's should've been as well. Shikamaru came close to dying as well, if Hitomi hadn't come along… So many young ninja had risked their lives not just in the exams themselves but in the aftermath of it all.

"Kami…are you sure you're okay?" Hitomi asked.

"I'm fine Hitomi. I told you already; even my leg doesn't hurt very much." Kami answered annoyed.

"Just want to be sure, your days as a ninja were supposed to be over, I don't know how you healed." Hitomi continued.

"Who cares, the point is I'm fine now right?" She said.

"Sure I guess." Hitomi said. "I think I'm going to go off to middle mist though."

"Awe…I don't know what that is all I know is every time you say that you end up leaving me alone." Kami said depressed.

"Alright fine let's all go do something together, something to take our minds off this whole situation." Hitomi said changing her mind. "How about we go out for lunch somewhere nice?"

"Hitomi you know as well as I do we don't really have any money for that." Kami reminded her pulling out her wallet to look. Nope, no money.

Hitomi sighed, there had to be something they could do. "Well how about we go take a swim? It's the middle of the summer and we're all wearing black. I know I'm hot."

"A swim? You mean so you can push me in with more piranhas?" Shikamaru asked. "No thanks."

"No, seriously let's get everyone together and all go swimming." Hitomi said. "Come on it'll be fun! What do you say Kami, Shika? Let's go find everyone!"

Shikamaru and Kami thought for a moment. Maybe it could be fun, getting everyone together after the exams. Even Lee could stand to get out of the hospital; the water might do him some good if he was allowed. The two of them agreed and they all split up to search for the others. Rayne and Kiba were found hanging about with their dogs talking about the Hokage, Naruto was training, Sasuke was found hanging about on the roof of some building however he refused to participate. Lee was of course in the hospital and just barely given leave to come, Ten Ten had been with him. Hinata and Neji had also been training, separately. Choji was eating and Ino and Shino were both with him treating themselves. The last person was Sakura; she had just been sitting at home. Everyone had agreed to come except for Sasuke, the truth was they could all use a break.

The party was held at Hitomi's house and so Kami and Hitomi were there first, Shikamaru shortly after not really wanting to come. Sakura, Ino, Choji, Naruto, Hinata, Shino, Neji, they all showed up. Rayne came next shortly followed by Kiba; he had probably followed her there but didn't want to see creepy.

"Hey Rayne nice suit!" Kiba said walking up to the party.

Rayne glared at him. "Idiot." She mumbled to herself making sure he didn't hear. "Hey Kiba!"

The last people to arrive were Lee and Ten Ten of course because Lee had to make his way from the hospital. The day was perfect, the sun high in the sky blazing making the temperature in the upper 90's. The water was perfect for swimming, everyone was in the pool.

"Hey Shikamaru, I didn't expect you to be here." Hitomi said walking around with a smoothie. "I figured swimming would be too tiring. You wouldn't rather be taking a nap?"

"Yeah sure, but it's always nice to get out every once in a while." Shikamaru admitted getting out of the pool. "But now that you mention it I could use a nap."

"Don't be ridiculous get in the water you lazy bum!" Hitomi ordered putting her arms out ready to push him in.

"No way! I need a nap!" Shikamaru argued catching her arms and fighting her force.

"Don't be stupid Shika you know that you'll lose if I really try." Hitomi argued.

The two of them shook each other back and forth holding onto one another's shoulders. Kami just watched from across the pool just shaking her head. She couldn't let this go on much longer, she stood up and made her way over to the both of them acting like she was just going to get a drink but instead she turned around to face them. As she turned around she threw her arms out, and just as Anko arrived, shoved both of them into the water drenching Anko.

"Kaminari…" Anko said wiping her face off. "Why I came here is beyond me." She continued walking inside Hitomi's house. By now Anko had become decent friends with Hitomi's parents and so she had planned on spending the day talking to them, but now she really just needed new clothes as well.

"So Rayne, it's a nice day out and stuff right?" Kiba said trying to inch closer to her.

"Yeah I guess so; it sure is nice for Ozame. She gets so hot sometimes." Rayne answered.

"But like…the day isn't the only nice thing…" Kiba said blushing.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Rayne asked smiling at him.

"Oh…I uh…well…umm." Kiba stuttered.

Man Kiba could be annoying. "Will you spit it out already?!" Rayne yelled annoyed.

"Oh uh nothing!" Kiba said quickly getting out of the water to sit by Neji and sighing.

The party was a great refresher for everyone, but they all had to get back to their missions. Just because the Hokage died didn't mean suddenly ninja training and missions stopped. Each group had to get right back to work the next day. After a few weeks passed Master Jiraiya or more commonly known as pervy sage returned with another one of the great sonin, Lady Tsunade. Jiraiya claimed he was too busy to become the next Hokage even after he was elected so, so instead he went off and found Tsunade who took his place as Hokage instead, mostly against her will but she had to do it.

It had only been about a day since Tsunade had arrived and gotten organized and ready to become Hokage. Everyone was just glad that the sand village finally had someone to guide them because they couldn't do it on their own. The morning after Tsunade had gotten settled in Kami came up to Hitomi when she was in the kitchen reading; they hadn't had a mission that day. She couldn't stop thinking about that Gaara kid.

"Hey Hitomi?" She asked sitting across from her at the table.

"Yeah?" Hitomi asked reading her book.

"Don't you ever think about those three kids from the sand village?" Kami asked not making eye contact with Hitomi.

"No, not really why? I'd rather not think about them in fact." Hitomi admitted.

"Oh, well it's just that…well that one kid Gaara. I feel kind of bad for him you know?" Kami said lowering her head.

"What?! Why?" Hitomi exclaimed in confusion.

"Well he just, he seemed so lonely you know. I just wonder if all he really needed was a friend." Kami admitted looking up at Hitomi finally.

"You aren't saying that, what, you want to be his friend, are you?! Are you forgetting he almost killed you?!" Hitomi yelled in anger.

"Well no, but I think the only reason he did that was because he felt so lonely, he was so angry at everyone. No one cared for him so he had no reason to care for anyone else, but if he could just see that there was one person out there that cared…" Kami said trailing off.

"So what you suddenly care about this kid? He had those other two sand ninja right? Don't you think they cared for him?" Hitomi argued.

"Well I don't know, maybe they didn't know how to express it to him, they were too afraid of him, that only had to anger him more don't you think?" Kami reasoned.

"The point is Kami I don't care." Hitomi said. "I can't believe you would!"

"I just think he needs a friend okay! It's not that big of a deal! I probably won't even see him again you big jerk!" Kami yelled standing up and leaning across the table. "It's not like how you get to see Shikamaru every day!"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Hitomi yelled leaning across her side and meeting Kami face to face. "What are you insinuating?!"

"Shikamaru and Hitomi sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g." Kami teased.

"Shut up! Shut up right now butthead!" Hitomi yelled jumping across the table and tackling Kami.

"First comes love, then comes marriage!" Kami continued to yell fighting with Hitomi on the floor.

"There will be no babies I tell you! You stop it right there! There is nothing going on between us!" Hitomi yelled yet all the while she was blushing.

"You're going to be lazy husband and wife!" Kami teased pinning Hitomi onto the ground just as their front door opened. "You love Shikamaru just admit it!" she yelled as Shikamaru walked into their house.

"Umm…maybe I should knock first next time…" Shikamaru said stopping in his tracks both at the image he was seeing of Kami and Hitomi wrestling and at the things he had just heard the both of them saying.

"Oh…Shikamaru!" Hitomi said her face turning bright red.

"I'll just uh…I'll just be waiting outside." He said slowly retracing his steps and closing the door quickly behind him.

"Someone is blushing." Kami teased getting off Hitomi.

"Shut up already." Hitomi growled glaring at Kami and composing herself again before walking to the door. "Aren't you coming Kami? I'm sure he wants to see both of us."

"Don't be such an idiot Hitomi; he only wants to see you. Just go. I'll be around." Kami answered heading out the back door and Hitomi out the front.

"Sorry about that…What is it Shika?" Hitomi asked opening the door and blushing slightly upon seeing him.

"First off, I'm going to pretend none of that happened but second Lady Tsunade summoned us." Shikamaru explained.

"She summoned us? But…she doesn't even know us." Hitomi said confused.

"I know, but it's supposed to be important, so let's go." He said walking towards the Hokage's building.

"What about Kami?" Hitomi asked going to open her door.

"No, she only wanted to see you and me." Shikamaru explained "I don't know why, but we shouldn't keep her waiting."

When they entered Tsunade's room they saw her sitting at her desk, Ibiki, Anko and the proctor of the third exam were on her left and her assistant was on her right. The people in the back were the three proctors of the chunin exams; did this meeting have something to do with the exams? It had been such a long time without any word on them that Hitomi had forgotten about them. Tsunade clearly looked confused and her words only reinforced that thought.

"To be honest I don't know what to do, with the final exam being expended it was the opinion of many that none of the students should pass this time around, and that includes both of you. However, I hear that the third Hokage had nothing but the highest praise for your work throughout all three exams, especially your final matches. Shikamaru, your ability to think and assess the situation in a calm and collected manner and handle it in the best way possible and Hitomi your ability to think through a tough situation and obtain the best possible results mixed with your leadership capabilities especially during the second part of the exam. It seems the third meant to recommend you two for chunin." Tsunade said dipping a paintbrush into ink and writing something down. "In fact all those who observed the fights and exam recordings along with your proctors felt the same. So in this case my opinion doesn't really matter. From this day forth I hope you'll strive to achieve a level of excellence worthy of that headband. Congratulations as of this moment you both stand a chunin." Tsunade said.

Hitomi gasped slightly, she had really become a chunin, and Shikamaru too? But he gave up, how did he manage that? Anko walked up to both of her students and handed them chunin jackets. Hitomi smiled as she slipped it on, Shikamaru just sighed as he did the same. Hitomi elbowed him in the arm; he should be more enthusiastic, now he wouldn't have to take the exams again like everyone else.

"Hey you two, why don't you go get Kami and I'll take us out to celebrate?" Anko said placing her hands on their shoulders.

"Don't you think Kami might be a little upset that she wasn't promoted?" Hitomi asked.

"Maybe, but don't you think she'd be more upset if she found out we celebrated without her?" Anko replied.

"Maybe we shouldn't celebrate." Shikamaru said. "Wouldn't matter to me either way."

"We're celebrating Shikamaru now get over to that barbeque place with Hitomi and I'll find Kami you hear." Anko ordered.

Both students dropped their heads. "Yes sensei."

When Kami and Anko finally arrived they ordered their food, Shikamaru only ate a few pieces of meat and Hitomi ate a few as well but most of it was easily consumed by Kami, the renowned garbage disposal. When there was finally one piece left that Hitomi had just finished cooking she went to grab it but found her chopsticks empty, Kami had taken the last piece.

"Kami that was the last piece of meat and I cooked it!" Hitomi yelled.

"Well you should've been faster then." Kami said plopping the piece in her mouth and chewing it slowly.

"I'll make you choke right here and right now! I can do that you know!" Hitomi growled shaking Kami by her shoulders.

"Hitomi calm down, and Kami quit being such a pain just because you didn't make chunin." Shikamaru said leaning back in his seat.

"Don't make me pummel you!" Kami yelled throwing her fist into the air ready to hit.

"Kami knock it off! Quit treating Shika like he's less than an animal!" Hitomi yelled back.

Anko sighed. Vulgar, short tempered, and lazy. She wondered how any of them had managed to make chunin or how they ever functioned on a team properly. She just shook her head, how had these students gotten anywhere in their ninja career. Even though Kami hadn't become chunin she had the potential, just this time she wasn't ready. Next time she would easily make chunin, Anko was sure of it.

"Yeah, I shouldn't be eating all that food anyway." Hitomi admitted calming down.

"Why not? You going on some diet like the rest of those stupid girls?" Shikamaru asked. "You know despite what most women seem to believe, men don't always go for the skinny girls. Most guys I know, they like girls with a little meat on their bones. It just looks healthier. Most of the girls around here could be a lot more popular if they just actually ate something once in a while." Shikamaru explained making eating sounds and faces.

Hitomi giggled and rubbed her head. A little meat on their bones huh? Kami punched Hitomi then waking her from her daydream. She just gave Hitomi a look and Hitomi knew exactly what she meant. She glowered at Kami and stuck her tongue out, what did Kami know about guys anyway, she had never shown interest in anyone, well besides that Gaara dude.

"Hitomi, I'm going home. All this chunin stuff is annoying me, you two in your stupid jackets, pft next time you just wait." Kami said getting up. "Thanks Anko sensei." She said as she left.

"Yeah, I'm sure she is right, next time she'll get it, but I need to head out as well. I have to meet some of the other sensei and Jounin to discuss some things. It's been a little hectic since Lady Tsunade arrived. I'm proud of you both." Anko said leaving the two of them alone.

"Right I bet that's what Anko sensei is doing. She's probably running off to hide from all the work; she isn't any different than I am. Look at her, peaking around the corner of the buildings like someone is watching her." Shikamaru said. "Anko sensei you better watch out I think I see Kakashi sensei!" Shikamaru yelled making Anko gasp and turn around in all directions quickly. Anko just glared at Shikamaru and stormed off with her arms crossed, pouting.

"You know Shikamaru you're pretty funny sometimes." Hitomi said. Shikamaru just looked at her and blinked. "Yeah and you're kind of a genius too, I mean it doesn't take one to know one. Anyone could see that you're way more amazing than Sasuke, or that Neji guy could ever be." Hitomi admitted.

Shikamaru tiled his head slightly and blinked a few times. "Huh? Really? I've never thought about it that way before, I'm just being me." He said.

"Well, then you are pretty awesome huh." Hitomi said smiling at him and getting up. "I'm sure you have somewhere to be, don't you? You're probably late for your afternoon nap."

"Oh..." Shikamaru said. "Well no actually I have to get home; my dad has been making my nervous telling me about how he actually wants to teach me a new jutsu or something." Shikamaru said standing up as well.

"You're lucky, having parents to help you out like that. My parents just run a local business. Neither one of them were ninja." Hitomi said walking out with him.

"Well…" Shikamaru said rubbing his head not sure how to answer.

"Oh, don't worry about it Shika, just go learn that new jutsu. Good luck." She said walking away in the opposite direction as he was going.

He looked after her, first what he overheard when he walked into their house and then what she said at lunch. He shook his head, no not Hitomi, who was he kidding. He sighed then as he walked off towards his house, great more work.

Chapter 11

The next morning Shikamaru yawned as he woke up, it was way too early for him to be awake but he smelled breakfast, may as well eat while he was up. Slowly making his way out of bed he looked out his window, Hitomi and Kami still fast asleep. He shrugged, oh well he got a peaceful morning for once. As he sat at the breakfast table he was nearly too tired to eat even as he yawned and stretched his arms.

"Shikamaru will you hurry up and eat, you dad has an important mission to get to!" His mother yelled. "If you just sit there he won't have time for morning training!"

"Yeah yeah…" Shikamaru sighed. Morning training that was right, his dad wanted Shikamaru up early to train him with the new jutsu.

"Don't talk just eat!" His mother continued.

"_From the second I get up it's nag nag nag…"_ He thought to himself just as his doorbell rang. "Huh?"

"Now who would be visiting us so early in the morning?" His mother wondered aloud as she walked to the door.

"Hey, dad?" Shikamaru whispered.

"What is it?" His dad asked annoyed.

"What on earth made you want to marry such a crabby woman like mom?" Shikamaru asked.

"Hmmm, that's a good question." His father responded. "Even a crab like your mom can be gentle sometimes. She has her moments."

"That's the reason?" Shikamaru asked confused. "_What a totally lame reason_." He thought but stopped himself. He started to think of someone else he knew who was the same way, when his mom interrupted him.

"Shikamaru?! Lady Tsunade has sent a messenger for you." His mom said smiling at him.

"Huh?" he wondered aloud.

He quickly got ready and made his way to Tsunade. At first he was just amazed by how much paperwork Tsunade had sitting around. There was enough paperwork to last her for weeks even if she kept on it at a steady pace. Shikamaru was lazy but he wasn't sure he would let himself get that backed up, after all most of the work just required a stamp. Most of it was just reports for missions groups had gone one.

"Late last night Sasuke Uchiha left the hidden leaf village." Tsunade began pulling his attention back to the matter at hand. "And, we're quite certain he's headed for the hidden sound village."

"What? He just left?! How could this happen?!" Shikamaru asked surprised.

"Simple, Orochimaru must have him in his clutches." Tsunade said clasping her hands together.

"Huh?!" Shikamaru gasped. "Wait that doesn't make any sense, what does Sasuke have to gain from talking to someone as depraved as Orochimaru?"

"At this point his motive doesn't matter; we need to deal with it quickly. I've decided it's time for you to carry out your first mission as a chunin Shikamaru." Tsunade said.

"So all I have to do is bring Sasuke back?" Shikamaru asked. "_As long as none of our enemies are with them it shouldn't be that big of a deal._" He thought

"Yes that is your mission, but it must be accomplished without delay and you may find it a more difficult task than you may think. There is a strong possibility that Sasuke is being guarded by Orochimaru's men." Tsunade explained.

"_Ugh, this is going to be a real pain in the neck, what happened to Sasuke anyway? I used to look up to him and now he's joined with the bad guys, this really stinks._" Shikamaru thought to himself. "Well if we're going to be facing opposition I'm going to need to request a team composed exclusively of Jounin and Chunin." Shikamaru explained.

"I can't honor that request." Tsunade admitted dropping her head.

"What?! And why not?!" Shikamaru asked in surprise.

"You already know the answer. As I'm sure you're aware most of the Jounin have been sent out on missions. Only a handful stayed behind to defend in case of an attack. Go round up any skilled Genin you feel are up to the job. You have 30 minutes to leave this village." Tsunade ordered.

Shikamaru turned and walked to the door to leave. "This whole thing's a drag but I do know the guy so I can't just let it go, but tell me, why didn't you choose someone else like Hitomi for this mission?"

"I didn't say you couldn't take Hitomi with you, but I have already seen her leadership capabilities and I feel your strategist mind will perform better as team captain." Tsunade explained.

"Well, that's just the way it is I guess." He said turning his head around to look at her.

"Hold on, there is one person I strongly recommend you include." Tsunade said grinning.

When Shikamaru arrived at Naruto's house Naruto nearly screamed in excitement. "No way you've gotta be kidding!"

"You just woke up and you're already this annoying?" Shikamaru said placing a finger over his ear in his deafness. "_Why did she want me to bring this guy_?" Shikamaru wondered.

"Hey hold on a second I'll go get dressed!" Naruto yelled running back into his house. "So anyway besides me have you thought of any other top notch guys to bring along?!" Naruto asked as they ran down the street to gather more ninja.

"A few." Shikamaru said stopping outside Hitomi and Kami's house.

"Wait a minute…" Naruto said realizing where he was.

Shikamaru knocked on the door but there was no answer, it was still early after all. "Plan B then." Shikamaru said picking up a rock. Not a good Plan B, but it would no doubt be annoying enough to wake Hitomi up. He chuckled as he threw the rock at her window. "Feel free to help out, the more we do this the faster she'll get annoyed." Shikamaru said picking up another rock.

It wasn't long before Hitomi's eyes popped open. She hadn't gotten her full nine hours of sleep! Who did these people think they were?! She threw open the window at lightning speed. "What the hell do you waaant?!" She screamed nearly bursting Naruto and Shikamaru's eardrums.

"Well I have an important mission; believe it or not I want you and Kami to be on my team." Shikamaru explained.

"Oh, we'll be right down!" Hitomi yelled her mood changing completely as she closed her window and knocking Kami out of bed. "Wake up we have an important mission!"

"I'll kill you!" Was the only thing Kami yelled before tackling Hitomi.

Outside Naruto stood confused. "I don't get it; I thought we were taking top notch people here not some stupid girls!" Naruto yelled.

"Hitomi, Kami and I have been on the same team for a while now; we work well together even if we do get on each other's nerves." Shikamaru admitted.

"I get it you know them, but for something like this shouldn't your first choice be Shino or something?!" Naruto exclaimed still angry.

"Shino can't do it; he's off on some mission with his dad." Kiba said walking up to Shikamaru and Naruto.

"What?! Not them too!" Naruto yelled annoyed.

"Yep, they're on the team too." Shikamaru admitted as Akamaru barked.

Hitomi burst out of the door brushing her hair the last few times and tossing her brush back into the house. It was supposed to land on the floor however Kami had actually been right behind her and instead it hit Kami in the face. Kami growled as she caught the brush and attempted to strangle Hitomi.

"First you push me out of bed and then you throw your brush in my face just who do you think you are?!" Kami yelled as Hitomi fought her monster strength.

"I'm sorry Kami I didn't mean to!" Hitomi apologized.

"Come on both of you stop. Normally I wouldn't get involved but we're on a time limit here, we have to go now." Shikamaru ordered. "The fact that we leave the village as soon as possible is critical."

Both girls stopped fighting then. "What is the mission anyway?" Hitomi asked.

"I'll explain on the way." Shikamaru said running off his team following him. "Tsunade has entrusted me with being team leader and captain for this mission, should I be rendered incompetent everyone needs to follow Hitomi's orders is that clear? She is the only other chunin in this group and the only other person fit to lead this squad. Now listen up, Sasuke has gone rouge and it is our mission to bring him back, however we could run into complications as he may be guarded by Orochimaru's men."

"So wait Shikamaru, are we bringing anyone else?" Naruto asked.

"No, I'm afraid not, we are in a rush and unless we happen to run into someone else at the gates, this is it." Shikamaru said as they reached the front gates and they opened. "And looks like that didn't happen. Okay it's time to go." He said. "_Oh well at least I got five._" He thought to himself.

"Alright! Come on let's get going everybody follow me!" Naruto yelled throwing his fist in the air.

"Ummm, hey Naruto. I'm kind of supposed to be the platoon leader here, I know it's a drag but didn't you hear me before?" Shikamaru said.

"You really think you're the best person to direct this operation? You don't seem very reliable to me." Naruto said.

"What's up with you thinking you're in charge all of a sudden Naruto? I mean taking orders from someone as lazy as Shikamaru doesn't exactly thrill me either but still." Kiba said putting Akamaru into his coat.

"Well none of you get to decide who the leader is here because only Shikamaru and I are chunin and Lady Tsunade gave given this mission to Shikamaru. So obviously she thinks he has what it takes to call the shots on this one so you all need to just shut up." Hitomi said.

"Well then don't we need some kind of plan?" Kami asked still drowsy.

"Well for starters this is a rescue operation so we'll be in the position of pursuit, which means the enemy already has an important advantage over us. That said I'm arranging us in a deployment formation that can respond to any assault by the enemy. If any of you don't follow my exact orders..." Shikamaru said glaring at them all. "We're all going to die." Everyone just stared at him in shock. "Alright then, we'll go with a single file strike formation. As we all know the most important position is the spearhead, so that's going to be… Kiba you're up front. With all the walks you and Akamaru go on, you're most familiar with the land of fire's terrain, and with that sensitive nose of yours you'll be able to track Sasuke's scent while sniffing out any booby traps the enemy may have set, moreover well have two sets of eyes up front. You and Akamaru will be better at protecting our single file line from an assault." Shikamaru explained.

Kiba gasped a mission that he just happened to come across and he had to be the point man? "Well, alright." He said.

"Second in line will be yours truly. Platoon leader. From that position I'll be able to direct everyone behind me using silent hand signals, and because I'm so close to Kiba I'll be in position to react to any situation." Shikamaru explained. "In the middle, the number three position is Naruto. The middle of the line is the best position for you because you're capable of executing quick moves in front of you or behind you. You're the cornerstone, and you have the shadow clone jutsu."

Kami just crossed her arms; of course Shikamaru didn't think she was best suited to be in the front. He would put Kami and Hitomi way in the back, and there for a second she thought the two of them were important to the team.

"Fourth in line is Kaminari. Kami, you might not have any speed but your striking power is the greatest of the platoon members. Kiba, myself and Naruto can launch a surprise attack then you'll swoop in and finish them off. You're the second wave of our assault." Shikamaru explained. Wow, he had actually given Kami a compliment. "Finally on the end will be you Hitomi. Your position is most difficult, rear lookout. I want you to constantly be scanning ahead for weakness in our ranks; I know you have a knack for sensing stuff like that. Got it?" he asked. Everyone just nodded, they understood. "Then take a look at his." He continued opening a scroll on the ground and drawing a diagram. "This diagram shows exactly what part of the perimeter you're responsible for. Kiba watches the front; I'm responsible for a wider forward view. Naruto's got the left, Kami the right, and Hitomi I hope you can handle watching the entire area to the rear." Shikamaru explained rolling up the scroll.

Hitomi swallowed, she was responsible for the entire rear, she didn't know if she could handle it but she wasn't about to let the team down. "Don't worry Shikamaru I can do it. You can count on me." She said.

"Alright, now I think I should familiarize myself with our arms and weaponry. I'll need to check out all of the ninja tools each of you plan on carrying into battle, that way I'll know what we have. Are there any questions?" Shikamaru asked putting his scroll away. It was amazing how he just assembled the team on a whim and already had the best formation for them laid out. "Since no one has anything to add I saved the most important part for last, for as long as I've known him Sasuke and I haven't exactly been close buddies, in fact I don't really like him at all." Shikamaru said. Hitomi and Kami knew just what he meant; neither of them were very fond of Sasuke either. "All the same, Sasuke is a ninja belonging to the hidden leave village, he's a comrade and I'll put my life on the line to help him, that's the way of our village. I know I usually seem like a pretty lazy guy, but not today because now I'm responsible for your lives too." Shikamaru explained.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see Shikamaru looking like a chunin. Very impressive." Kiba said.

"Alright, as soon as I check our gear we'll go show me your weapons." Shikamaru said. Everyone pulled out their bag and opened it to let him examine them; mostly it was just shuriken and kunai knives with some scrolls and each person with their own pouch of paper bombs. "Alright, let's move out." Shikamaru said as the all began to leave.

"Wait!" Sakura yelled stopping them.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked her.

"Lady Hokage told me everything; I'm sorry Sakura I can't take you on this mission. I know you tried but even you couldn't convince Sasuke could you? Now our only option is for me to find him and force him to come back to the village, I'm sorry but there is nothing else you can do for him." Shikamaru said.

"But that means…did Sasuke turn his back on you then Sakura?!" Naruto asked.

"Naruto…this is a once in a lifetime request." Sakura said as she began crying. "Just bring him back, bring Sasuke home to me. I did everything I could, I tried, but I couldn't stop him from leaving the village. At this point there is only one person who can stop him. Naruto it's all up to you." She said.

"Well gosh Sakura, you must really care about Sasuke. I get it; I can see that deep down this must be really painful for you. I know you must be suffering." Naruto said. Kami rolled her eyes, did she really have to listen to this. "Don't you worry one bit I'm going to bring Sasuke back! I promise it on my life"

"Woah Naruto that's a pretty bold statement are you sure you should be promising her that?" Kiba asked.

"Of course, when I give my word you can count on it! That's my ninja way!" Naruto said.

"Are we done here now, this is so annoying." Kami said crossing her arms and turning away from everyone.

"Alright then, this little interruption cost us some time, let's get moving." Shikamaru said walking out of the village, his team behind him.

Quickly they fell into formation, their single file line moving quickly in the direction that Sasuke had gone. Hitomi was doing everything she could to watch out for anything behind them. So far nothing had come up but her stress levels were rising, what if she couldn't sense anything; her whole team's life could be in danger because she let them run into an enemy. She knew Kiba's nose would be able to sniff out anything close by or any scents that they didn't recognize but that wouldn't tell them if they were about to run into enemies until they were right up on them. Someone like Hinata or Neji would have been better with their Byakugan but instead he chose her.

Akamaru moaned then. "Akamaru?" Kiba asked.

"What's the matter with him?" Shikamaru questioned.

"He smells blood, somewhere nearby." Kiba answered. "Basically here's what happened, the scent of two newcomers converged on the scent of Sasuke and four others. The two have stayed behind while Sasuke's group has moved on. So what now?"

"Just as I thought, Sasuke's got an escort." Shikamaru said. "_Man this is turning out to be such a drag._" Shikamaru thought getting annoyed.

"There's no questions we've gotta go after Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.

"Who died and made you boss? Last time I check Shikamaru was running the show, it's up to him to decide." Kiba said.

"Well Shika?" Hitomi asked looking ahead at him. "What now?"

"Since Akamaru smelled blood my guess is there was a battle between Sasuke's group and the two newcomers. If we go to the spot where they fought we might be able to gather some useful information." Shikamaru said. "Of course we can't just rush in, it might be a trap. So when we get closer we'll go into full reconnaissance mode and take it slowly."

"And while we are wasting time doing that Sasuke would have already crossed beyond the borders of the land of fire and out of our hands." Hitomi argued. "You know I'm right Shika."

"Okay Shikamaru so what's it going to be?!" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru just kept running silent for a moment, thinking. "We follow Sasuke." Shikamaru finally said. "But one thing, these guys have already been in one fight so they'll be on their guard. Unless they're complete idiots they'll have to know there is going to be more ninja on their trail. There is a good chance we'll hit some booby traps or even an ambush up ahead. So from this point on we proceed with caution. I want everybody, not just Akamaru to put all your sense on full alert. If you catch a trace of anything suspicious sound the alarm, we want to find these guys before they find us."

"Got it! And when we do find them I'm going to clobber them with this brand new jutsu of mine!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto quit being such an idiot! You're going to be the one who gets us all killed!" Kami yelled, ready as always to pummel him.

Akamaru moaned again. "The enemies scent is here, all around us!" Kiba said holding his hand up to stop.

"Everyone stop!" Shikamaru yelled as the five of them landed softly onto the same branch next to each other. "Look up on that tree, see that?" Shikamaru said pointing to a paper bomb.

"A paper bomb. I'm sure there are five more of them." Hitomi said. "A perimeter barrier."

"A perimeter barrier?" Kami asked.

"It's a type of trap ninjutsu. There is a delay after the perimeter is breached giving the enemy just enough time to make it to the center for full effect. It's a tricky jutsu I learned about it in one of the books my dad used to make me read." Shikamaru said annoyed.

"Ugh, now we have to waste time going around it, great." Kiba growled as they went around. "Man this whole forest is crawling with booby traps." He noticed as they came across some tripwires and had to walk over them slowly.

"Yeah but luckily they are easy to spot. These guys are moving fast and getting sloppy." Shikamaru said.

"Shika, don't you dare let your guard down, they could be using these sloppy traps to throw us off the trail of some well hidden ones." Hitomi said fiercely.

Shikamaru gasped at her tone of voice but sighed. "She is right; don't assume the worst of the enemy."

"Yeah, Naruto watch where you're going I don't want you blowing us all up, there are tripwires everywhere." Kiba said.

"Yeah tell me something I don't know." Naruto said taking a step down.

"Naruto hold it!" Shikamaru yelled possessing Naruto in his shadow possession and grabbing on to Hitomi scarf for balance so to keep Naruto's foot in the air. He had seen a clear tripwire glisten in the sun just under Naruto's foot. "Just in time."

"I told you to watch out for hidden traps didn't I?!" Hitomi yelled annoyed as she tried to stop Shikamaru from choking her.

"Yeah didn't I tell you to watch your step you moron!" Kiba concurred.

"I did say he was the one who was going to get us all killed right?" Kami said glaring at Naruto.

"Man, Hitomi was right; one wire catches the light and is easy to see while the other is camouflaged. While you step to miss the first, you trip the second." Shikamaru said examining the trap.

"A trap within a trap, what did I say? It's a damn good thing I am here isn't it? Who knows what other bright ideas I'll come across." Hitomi said rather proud of herself.

"All their other traps were quick and dirty as if they were moving fast, but not this one." Shikamaru said.

"They may have stopped to rest; perhaps one of them is injured, or is this all part of the trap?" Hitomi asked. She thought for a moment then grabbed her head in pain trying not to collapse on any wires.

"What's wrong?!" Kami and Shikamaru exclaimed.

"I don't know…" Hitomi said closing her eyes tightly.

She moved her hands from her head to her eyes covering them as they began watering. Carefully Shikamaru helped her to sit down careful not to trip any other traps. She ran her hands into her hair and grabbed handfuls of it as tears fell to the ground, her eyes were in so much pain, what was happening to her? Suddenly the pain receded and she opened her eyes finally. She looked up at Shikamaru and she could see everything, what had happened to her? She could see his chakra network, she could see everyone's chakra network, and in the distance she saw even more chakra networks.

"What…" Hitomi said not sure how to comprehend what was happening.

"What happened to your eyes?!" Shikamaru exclaimed.

"I don't know! How did you know something happened?!" Hitomi asked.

"They look different. They have like…little black ripples in them now, they aren't just purple anymore." Kami said looking at them. "It's really cool."

"Well…it's not important. Shikamaru, up ahead…I see more people. They're Orochimaru's." Hitomi said ignoring what had happened, the mission needed to continue.

"What?! How can you see that?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know okay, but we shouldn't be focusing on me just listen okay! I see four people and some big coffin thing." Hitomi continued.

"Well then let's go! I've been dying to show these clowns what I've got!" Naruto yelled.

"Is that right? I hate to disappoint you hot shot but I've got a new jutsu I've been working on too." Kiba said followed by Akamaru barking.

"Yeah me too." Kami said crossing her arms.

"Alright calm down." Shikamaru ordered as he helped Hitomi to her feet, her clear vision disappearing. "First we make a plan and get everything ready, then we go in and take them out." Shikamaru explained the plan giving everyone something to do. "Now Kiba the timing of those smoke bombs is absolutely critical." He finished. "So, split up. Let's go." Everyone nodded, time to finish this mission.

Hitomi followed Shikamaru and the two of them made their way closer to the group of enemies the other three hiding. "Looks like we've caught them napping." She said.

"Wait a minute where is Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked.

"Hold on…"Hitomi said closing her eyes and focusing. Whatever had happened before she could really use it again. When she finally opened her eyes her clear chakra vision was back. She could see some type of Chakra emanating from the coffin. "He's in there." She whispered gesturing to the barrel. "In that coffin…"

"You don't mean he's dead do you?!" Shikamaru exclaimed.

Hitomi smacked her hand over his mouth. "Shut up you moron you want to give away our position?!" She said angry, yet still whispering. Hitomi sighed "It's been sealed with a barrier jutsu and it's hard for me to see through clearly, however I see some type of chakra coming from it, so he must still be alive. Besides considering all they went through to get him I can't believe they would kill him so quickly."

"Let's just hope you're right." Shikamaru said.

Just then both of them gasped and bent away from one another as a kunai flew at them. "Paper bombs! I knew you would give our position away!" Hitomi yelled grabbing Shika's shirt and attempting to pull them both out of the blast; she didn't have enough time to even attempt a barrier. Thought she tried they both were however still caught in the blast anyway. The blast blew them both forward right into their enemies territory all four of them standing in front of where Shikamaru and Hitomi had just rolled to.

"Well well, I thought I was flushing a snake out of the woods but all I got was a couple of mice." One of the enemies with short white hair said.

"Wait a minute calm down!" Shikamaru said standing up. "We're here to negotiate not fight! Can't we talk this over like reasonable people?"

"_Shikamaru you idiot_!" Hitomi thought standing up quickly and grabbing his arm.

"Heh, let's not forget your friends shall we?" Another one of the enemies with eight arms like a spider said pulling Kiba, Naruto and Kami out from their hiding places with his spider web like jutsu. Kiba threw a smoke bomb allowing Shikamaru's team to regroup away from the enemy. "What good's that going to do? Throw all the smoke bombs you want, I've still got you. These threads are so fine they're almost invisible, but they're stronger than they look. You may have already encountered them in the forest."

"So that double trap of tripwires you set…was actually a triple trap." Shikamaru said realizing that even after the camouflaged tripwires there was yet a third set of these spider like wires. "That was clever. So I guess that makes you the smart one of the group." Shikamaru said grinning.

"And you're about to be the dead one!" The enemy yelled but was stopped in his tracks. "Ugh…my body what's happening?!" he asked.

"Man that was perfect! Kiba distracted him and you nailed them with your shadow possession jutsu!" Naruto yelled.

"Yeah that's right; you're not the only ones who can spring a trap. Thanks for making me look good in front of the squad. Appreciate it." Shikamaru said.

"Very impressive, I'd be even more impressed if I hadn't mastered that technique as well." The first enemy with short white hair said just as shuriken flew out of the trees from behind them and cut Shikamaru on the arm making him lose his focus and his shadow possession.

"Earth style barrier." A third larger built enemy with orange hair said placing his hands on the ground. "Earth dome prison!" he yelled as the earth around Shikamaru's team cracked and surrounded them in an earth barrier prison.

"What the…" Hitomi exclaimed.

"Terrific…"Shikamaru said. "We're stuck in some kind of barrier." Shikamaru said annoyed.

All of them looked around the barrier and tried to break out. "It just seems to be some kind of earth wall." Hitomi said looking at Kami.

"Yeah it's some kind of jutsu, we should watch our step it could be another trap." Shikamaru said.

"Ha! A wall's a wall and there is no wall I can't punch a hole through." Kiba said arrogantly.

"Well, it's worth a try I guess." Shikamaru agreed. "After all we do have to do something despite the risk."

"Tunneling fang!" Kiba yelled tunneling into the wall, but he barely made a dent in it before dropping to the ground to see the earth wall actually rebuild itself.

"Let us out!" Naruto screamed.

"Yelling isn't going to get us anywhere moron so shut your trap or I'll shut it for you! Got it!" Kami yelled back grabbing the collar on his shirt and pulling him into her face allowing him to get to full effect of her rage.

"No…it appears to be more than just an average dirt wall." Hitomi said examining it closer with the new eyes she had managed to acquire, the group standing in a circle. "The wall is…" Hitomi began but gasped cutting herself off.

"The wall is what? The wall is what?!" Shikamaru asked.

"It's absorbing out chakra! As if it was like some kind of sponge! We have to get out of here fast or well all die!" Hitomi exclaimed looking through her chakra vision to see their chakra flowing right into the wall.

Everyone just gasped and looked at her. "Great it's not enough they try and bury us alive in this oversized dung heap, now they're trying to steal out chakra. Gotta give these guys credit for thoroughness at least." Kiba said.

"Kami…can you?" Hitomi asked.

"No…" Kami admitted. "I've never seen this kind of jutsu before; with the earth absorbing our chakra like this I wouldn't have any idea how to counteract it with my jutsu." She said. "This isn't normal earth."

Hitomi balled her fists, how the hell were they going to get out? She looked around and realized just how fast the wall was taking all of their chakra, by not everyone except for Hitomi was sitting down, and even she was feeling exhausted. They hadn't even done anything and they all felt like they had just fought some intense battle. Finally she fell to the ground as well everyone else, breathing heavily.

"I feel like…all my energy is draining out of me." Naruto said.

"Shika, we have to do something fast." Hitomi said.

"_Man I was an idiot to move in without knowing the full extent of the enemy's powers._" Shikamaru thought to himself. "_Now we're trapped like rats_."

"That does it, stand back guys. I'm going to bust us out of here before my chakra is all gone. Akamaru! Have a food pill." Kiba said feeding Akamaru, turning him into a crazed beast. "Okay, ninja art human mimicry, and as for me ninja art beast mimicry! Fang over fang!" he yelled as the two of them attacked the wall over and over but made no progress.

"Somehow I knew that would be no use…" Hitomi said sighing. Shikamaru examined the walls as it repaired itself along with the floor. "Shika…I'd give us no more than 10 more minutes before our chakra is completely drained…" Shikamaru was just sitting quietly as he tied a bandage around his arm. He was surly thinking of some type of plan.

"Hey out there! Let me talk to your leader! I've got a deal to propose! What I'm thinking is you let us out of this thing, and in return we let you keep Sasuke." Shikamaru said.

"But Shikamaru, what are you doing?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Be quiet stupid, you don't really think he would do that do you? He's not an idiot." Hitomi whispered.

"No deal, I've never let a captive go before and I'm not about to start now." The enemy said.

"Come on, listen how about you just let me go, and keep the others." Shikamaru said. "All this fighting I'm tired of it." he continued as everyone behind his back started glaring at him. Even though Hitomi was at least 90% sure Shikamaru wasn't serious he still hit a nerve. "It's really not my thing."

"You little! If you're selling us out I'm going to wring your neck!" Kiba growled.

"Just shut up Kiba, for once in your life." Shikamaru said annoyed.

"What did you say?!" Kiba yelled standing up in anger.

The enemy laughed. "So much for teamwork. So you're the leader huh, you're setting a real nice example for the rest of your team. You see a man's true character when he is pushed to the edge of death. You're not a man at all and certainly not one who's worthy of leading a team of ninja into battle. Sacrificing Sasuke and the rest of your squad, so that's how a leaf chunin acts."

Hitomi shook her head, this whole thing. Shikamaru, what did he have in mind. She was sure this whole thing was part of some plan. Kami was about ready to kill Shikamaru along with the rest of the team. Was this Shikamaru's goal? To anger his teammates? He must've figured something out. She growled quietly and suddenly she heard something. No one had said anything however, she was…she was hearing their thoughts.

"Do you really believe I might let you out?" The enemy asked. "You deserve to die."

"That does it Shikamaru you dirty little traitor let's take this outside!" Naruto yelled. "Just you and me!"

"What do you mean let's take this outside? How are you going to do that you idiot we're trapped in here." Kami said rolling his eyes.

"What did you call me?!" Naruto yelled.

"I called you an idiot, idiot!" Kami yelled.

"That's what I thought you said!" Naruto continued trying to put her in a headlock but she reversed it putting him into one.

"That's enough! Everybody just shut up god damn it!" Hitomi yelled at the end of her rope stopping Kami and Naruto mid argument. She looked over at Shikamaru as he put his hands together in his typical way when he was focusing, just like during his battle with Temari.

"Ah forget it I'm giving shadow clones a try!" Naruto yelled.

"Will you just forget it?!" Hitomi yelled. She sighed then to calm herself. "That ninja has the wall infused with chakra so no matter what you do it will just repair itself. Using your shadow clones will only waste your own chakra. The fact is multiple attacks won't work, our only hope is taijutsu strong enough to destroy it in one blow." Hitomi said looking at Kami. "Kami, you've got to give it a shot or we'll all die in here."

"Hitomi, I need you to focus those new eyes of yours on the wall directly behind you and Kami." Shikamaru said finally putting his hands down. "Do you think you have enough chakra left?"

"Yes, I think so." Hitomi said.

"Hold on you're not going to listen to him are you?!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto you really are an idiot! You still don't get it do you?! Don't you remember what Shikamaru said when we came together as a team?!" Hitomi yelled back. Naruto clenched his teeth as he though back to how Shikamaru had said that today; he wasn't going to be lazy because now he was responsible for their lives as well as his own.

"Okay Hitomi, just keep it down will you? Kiba are you up for trying to put another dent in the wall behind Kami?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well sure, I guess. I don't know what's going on, but I'm always up for getting wild! Tunneling fang!" Kiba yelled tunneling into the wall behind Kami once more.

Hitomi examined the wall closely looking at all the dents finding one that repaired itself slower than the others. "I see it, that's the spot." She said.

"Alright, now mark the spot with your kunai knife will you?" Shikamaru asked. "Kami, are you ready? We're all counting on you."

"Please of course I'm ready; I was born ready for this stuff." Kami said knowing exactly what to do; this was her team after all, by now they could almost communicate without speaking.

"Good, then let's get started." Shikamaru said grinning.

"Wait let's get what started?" Naruto asked still out of the loop.

Hitomi sighed in frustration "As I told you before Naruto, the wall is infused with chakra to repair itself, but the strength of the chakra won't be uniform just like the strength of chakra in parts of the body isn't uniform. Some points in the wall would be weaker than others, and Shikamaru was able to figure that out. The fact that you even thought that he would abandon us is insane Naruto, you have got to catch onto things faster." Hitomi said.

"Wait…when did this happen?" Naruto asked still confused. "When did he figure this out?"

"He's been watching the whole time. For example when Kiba used his fang over fang with Akamaru, Shikamaru was observing the walls and noticing that some spots repaired themselves more slowly than others." Hitomi said throwing her kunai at the weak point in the wall. "That led him to suspect that at those points naturally the chakra is the weakest. Still, he needed to be sure. That's why he spoke to our enemy like he did, it was just a ruse to trick him into giving away his position, and it worked. It confirmed that Shikamaru's suspicions were right. The band of chakra running around the wall is thinnest and weakest at the point opposite the enemy's position. That about sums it up doesn't it?" Hitomi asked looking at Shikamaru.

"Still sometimes I'm amazed how well our team reads each other." Shikamaru said.

"Right because I couldn't read your mind or anything this whole time." Hitomi said jokingly rubbing her head. She of course knew what he was thinking because she was on his team, but admittedly it would've taken her longer to realize had she not been able to read his mind. Something about the new eyes she possessed, they were giving her all kinds of new abilities.

"Alright Kami, do it." Shikamaru said.

"Alright here we go!" Kami said fusing her chakra into her fist and grabbing her writs powering it up as much as she could before giving the wall one nice punch. The mix between her own physical strength and the fact that her chakra nature was earth type as well, allowed her to burst through the wall easily appearing on the outside through the smoke and dust along with the rest of the team following quickly behind her.

"Well Kami…I can't put it any other way. That was awesome." Hitomi said looking at her.

"I sure as hell wasn't going to die in there. Now, let's kick some ass!" Kami yelled.

Chapter 12

They watched as their earth prison crumbled to the ground revealing the enemy on the other side, he was by himself.

"Looks like he's by himself now, I'm guessing the others went on ahead." Shikamaru said.

Hitomi scanned ahead with her new vision; she was starting to get the hang of it now. "You're right; they're nowhere to be seen."

"Swell, and just when I thought we had finally caught up with them." Shikamaru said sighing.

"Not a bad bit of handy work you guys." The enemy said clapping. "For a bunch of losers."

"What?!" Naruto yelled.

"Who you calling losers?!" Kiba continued both of them running at the enemy.

"Both of you stop!" Hitomi yelled. "There is no way we can take him head on, it's just too dangerous. Not with the condition we're all in."

"We just tore through this clown's barrier how tough can he be?" Kiba asked.

"Kiba, quit thinking you're so amazing. You did nothing to his barrier; need I remind you who it was that burst through the wall? Hell even Shikamaru did more than you; it was all his idea wasn't it? It's saying something when I'm being nice to Shikamaru, Kiba you're just embarrassing. I could understand Naruto, but really Kiba, you didn't even make it to the final competition in the chunin exams and you're walking around like you own the place. Just shut up for and stay where you belong, inferior to others." Kami said extremely annoyed.

"Oh yeah?! Just watch me take this guy down!" Kiba yelled using tunneling fang.

Naruto and Kiba kept throwing attacks at him but the enemy barely even had to move to deflect them. "I'd eat you all for dinner but you wouldn't even do as an appetizer." The enemy said performing an earth hand sign.

"Watch out, this guy is just getting warmed up!" Shikamaru exclaimed watching as the enemy threw his fist into the ground.

"Earth style barrier, earth prison jutsu!" The enemy yelled.

"No you don't! Not again!" Kami yelled. Earth style, Earth flow wave!" Kami yelled placing her fist to the ground and making everyone rise up into the air on waves of earth, maneuvering them away from the opponent's barrier and quickly into the forest out of the opponents view through dust and dirt that she made fly into the air.

"We're running out of time. There's no choice, we've got to split up." Shikamaru said.

"He's right. With our chakra depleted like this, even with the five of use he's not going to be an easy enemy to take out, plus with every passing second Sasuke gets closer to the border, and once he crosses it he'll be out of our hands. So we should probably split into two groups then, one to stop our current attacker and one to follow Sasuke." Hitomi said.

"You'll head the second team then Hitomi." Shikamaru said.

She nodded, but which team would she be leading? She didn't have time to think, the enemy threw his hand into the ground crushing the earth around him and knocking down a few trees to reveal the group of ninja in hiding.

"Hitomi, take Kiba and Kami and head out after Sasuke." Shikamaru ordered.

"Alright then!" She answered ready to go.

"Naruto, you and I can handle this guy." Shikamaru said putting his shadow possession hand sign up.

"What are you going to do, play with my shadow again? Just forget it kid you already showed me your parlor trick once and once was enough." The enemy said.

"That's funny I seem to remember someone around her getting taken in by that parlor trick." Shikamaru said as his shadow worked its way across the ground towards the enemy. Just as Shikamaru's shadow went underground and tried to sneak up behind the enemy he smashed his hand into the ground again creating a smoke cloud leaving the shadow unable to connect.

Hitomi used her eyes to look through the dirt and trees, but the enemy was nowhere to be seen. "He's disappeared." She said returning her vision to normal. These new eyes were awfully useful, but they sure took a lot out of her if she used her vision like that for too long. On the other hand even when she wasn't using chakra vision she was still getting other benefits, she could still read minds if she tried and just watching that guy use that barrier jutsu those few times she thought she could almost do it.

Kiba sniffed the air, "He's behind us!" He yelled the entire team turning to see their enemy lifting a massive amount of earth from the ground.

"Earth style spirit waves!" he yelled.

"Are you insane?!" Naruto yelled as the enemy threw the giant boulder. This one was even too big for Kami to punch through so they resorted in just jumping out of the way instead.

"Heads up you guys there's another one coming!" Shikamaru said as the enemy's hand burst through the ground and he grabbed Shikamaru's ankle and held him upside down as he emerged from underground.

"You're in charge of this rag tag bunch am I right? When you've got an idiot for a leader the whole team suffers, know what I mean. You don't want to follow a guy like this let me get rid of him for you!" The enemy said swirling Shika around by his ankles before tossing him into the forest.

Hitomi grabbed Shikamaru with her gravitational abilities, abilities she had learned more about in a book she read recently. They came from the founder of the arts of ninjutsu, the sage of the six paths. The Deva path was the path with the ability to control gravitational forces, the ability to change and create the attractive and repulsive forces of object and their surroundings. Once she was able to master it more, one day she may even be able to control the forces of individual atoms. She pulled Shikamaru to the ground safely just as she remembered something else she had read.

When Kami had interrupted her yesterday during her reading to talk about Gaara, Hitomi had just begun reading about the third ocular jutsu. There was of course the sharingan and the Byakugan but the sage of the six paths possessed the rinnegan, the most exalted of the ocular jutsu. It allowed to user to use the six paths technique. It was characterized but its ripple-like pattern over is light purple irises and sclera. She gasped when she finally realized it. The rinnegan that was what had just awakened in her. That was why should could read minds, see chakra networks, and use the deva path. Now that the rinnegan had finally awakened in her she would be able to use all six paths of pain.

"Thanks Hitomi." Shikamaru said.

"Awe I try and help you guys out and look what you do." The enemy said. "I don't know which is more pathetic the fool or the ones who follow him. Tell you what, you don't want to keep working under this glum faced little shadow lover, I'll just kill you now and put you out of your misery."

"It's time for you to shut your big mouth or I'll come shut it for you!" Kami yelled. Shikamaru may not have been her favorite person but she wasn't about to sit and listen to this guy talk crap about him and then tell her how dumb her and the rest of the team was for following him around. "This guy is mine." She growled clenching her teeth.

"What the hell are you talking about Kami?! This isn't the kind of guy you can take on your own!" Hitomi exclaimed.

"I said he's mine god damn it! Stay out of it." Kami said.

"But…Kami…" Hitomi tried to argue.

"Hitomi…just keep those food pills you have for everyone. I've got this." Kami said looking at Hitomi before walking past them towards the enemy.

"This is priceless." The attacker said. "You think I'm going to wait forever?!" he yelled rushing towards her. "Enough of this I'm taking you all out right here!"

"Just get going damn it! If I have to tell you one more time…" Kami said rage burning in her eyes.

"Get out of my way!" The enemy yelled running right into Kami.

She grabbed him and held him in place a wave of energy rushing through her body. "Fucking take everybody and go Shikamaru! Before I change my mind and let him kill you all!" she yelled. "You said it yourself; you'll put your life on the line to save Sasuke even though you don't really like him! For once let me do something right, otherwise if Sasuke gets away well all be known as the idiot leader and his band or rejects that couldn't do one mission right!"

"You better catch up with us later Kami." Hitomi said.

"Let's get moving hurry up!" Shikamaru said as the team ran off Hitomi looking back at Kami one last time.

"Once I finally finish you off bitch, your friends are going to be next." The enemy said.

"It's a bad thing that you called me a bitch." Kami growled pushing the enemy back slowly before gathering up enough force to lift him into the air and smash him onto the ground throwing him against a tree.

"Everyone better take one of these food pills, we need the strength." Hitomi said tossing the bag around allowing everyone to take some as they ran off to follow Sasuke.

"I'm going to finish you off in one blow." Kami said clasping her hands together. "Earth style, dragon bomb!" she yelled as an earth dragon made its way out of the ground and began throwing bombs of mud at the enemy. All she needed was one hit and then she would have him, the mud that comes out of the dragons mouth hardens instantly trapping the enemy. This guy could probably get out but she could hold him long enough to get a finishing blow in; she just needed to retain her last bit of chakra for her surprise attack. She hadn't spent the last two months since the exams doing nothing; this earth dragon was only the beginning.

Back with the rest of the team Akamaru moaned at Kiba. "Yeah I was just thinking the same thing myself." Kiba said.

"What do you mean? What is he saying?" Naruto asked.

"You know how Akamaru can tell an enemy's strength just by his scent right? He's pretty worried that Kami won't be able to take on that gargantuan alone, even if she does have some new jutsu she mentioned." Kiba answered.

"Well I don't want to believe it but Akamaru is right to be, the fact is we don't know the enemy's ability. The chances of Kami defeating him…may be near zero, however…" Hitomi said trailing off for a moment. "He doesn't know anything about Kami either…I just…I guess that's the way a lot of battles are."

Kami kept watching the enemy; he wasn't moving fast enough to keep dodging. She took a deep breath, she didn't have much chakra to spare but she had enough to pull of her next move, her only concern was is she couldn't keep enough to use her final blow. If she couldn't get the tables to turn in her favor for even a second she wouldn't be able to win.

"Fire style, fireball jutsu!" she yelled spitting a fireball out mixing it with the mud from the earth dragon but also sending it out towards the enemy for a bigger arc of attack.

She luckily hit the enemy just as her chakra levels fell and her earth dragon dispersed. That fire jutsu took a lot more out of her than she expected. The enemy was now burned across his body not expecting a fire jutsu along with an earth jutsu, not from such a low level ninja. His feet had hot earth, magma, covering them and he was yelling out in pain as it hardened. Her eyes widened as she realized she didn't have enough chakra left for her finishing blow. There was always a downside to using such advanced jutsu like the dragon bomb. Learning that jutsu had been enough work, it took her ages after she saw the third Hokage perform it once, but she had mastered it.

Until now she had never needed to use that jutsu in battle, the only other real battles she had been involved in were during the exams and it wouldn't have worked against Gaara. She knew how much chakra it would take, but this was an exception, throwing in the fire jutsu was the perfect combination with the dragon bomb but on such low chakra and with a genin she just couldn't bring herself to do any more.

The enemy yelled and the curse mark on his back overtook half his body. He was able to pull his legs from the hot ground and use another jutsu. "Shatter palm!" he yelled running up to her and hitting her in the chest before she had a chance to move tossing her backwards. "Ha! Hasn't anyone ever told you? In a team of five there is always somebody in the mix who is just dead weight, the one who is always the butt of everyone's jokes, and when thick comes to thin they'll be cast aside just like the worthless pawn they are! That's who you are."

Kami stood up slowly, a worthless pawn? She thought back, during the last mission when they had gone to save Sasuke before, against Gaara she had just sat there, she did nothing. Another large group, a group of five if she wasn't counting Sasuke, where no one needed her, they all handled it just fine by themselves. Even this mission she may have only been with them for the simple fact that Shikamaru had wanted to bring Hitomi along and Kami just happened to live with her. She clenched her teeth; she wouldn't let herself be useless, not this time. She was better than that; she wouldn't give up this easily. Her team did need her, she just kept reminding herself that without her they would've never even gotten out of that earth prison, they might all be sitting around here dead right now. Kami was needed by others.

"Looks like I hit it right on the nose, didn't I? The leaf village must be running short on ninja if they're sending out worthless girls like you to be part of a search team." The enemy said running towards her and punching her once twice three times in the face then smashing his shoulder into her knocking her farther back into the woods. "A loser right to the end, you started off well but that backbone you showed sure didn't last long. You're the epitome of failure. It's not your fault; they never should have even made a reject like you a ninja in the first place. You should blame your stupid leader for even allowing it."

"Just shut up!" Kami screamed jumping off the ground and punching the enemy in the face as hard as she could knocking him back a few steps. "I'm no reject!" she screamed a tear rolling down her face. "If you think I am then I'll show you a rejects true power!" she yelled throwing up more hand signs.

With Shikamaru's group they were still discussing the battle. "Hitomi is right, we knew from the beginning this mission wasn't going to be child's play, it's life or death." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah but…Shikamaru…" Naruto said.

"I've already anticipated the worst case scenario where each of us ends up fighting alone and at this point if we're not ready to lay down our lives then we might not be able to reach Sasuke in time." Shikamaru admitted. "Kami…she's good enough to hold her own."

"Yeah, but she tends to think she is the weakest link, or had no use in the team." Hitomi said.

"Well that's because she kind of is the weakest link, isn't she? That's the whole reason she stayed back there, so she could be of some kind of use." Kiba said.

"Sometimes Kiba I want to just punch you so hard in the throat you'll become mute and start puking up blood. Kami isn't worthless, have you forgotten that without her we'd still be in that earth prison probably dead? Kiba, you're so full of yourself I can't stand it. You don't care for anyone else but yourself, you're so selfish it makes me sick. I can't even believe you would say that, need I remind you which one of us is only on this team just because they happened to walk by when Shikamaru was looking for recruits?" Hitomi said, she had never been this angry at anyone for as long as she could remember, not even that time Shikamaru made her dance like an idiot in the street. In fact she was so angry she had tears running down her face. Shikamaru just looked at her; best to let her get it out, getting involved would only make things worse. "Kiba you might not know Kami very well, but the least you can do is think before you speak. If I ever hear you talk about her that way again I won't hesitate to kill you myself, Kami is a much better asset to this team than you could ever be. Kiba you're only good for one thing, that stupid nose one your fat ugly face, we could replace you with a ninja hound like Pakkun in a heartbeat."

Kiba fell quiet then. Her words cut deep, was that really how she felt? Did other people feel that way about him? Is that why Rayne never wanted to be around him? He didn't even know what to say. She was right, Kiba was only on this team because he happened to be walking Akamaru when he came across Shikamaru and Naruto, and she was also right that Kami was able to break them out of the prison when Kiba could do it. He didn't speak for a while after that, not after what Hitomi had just said about him.

"More than me or Shikamaru or anyone else here, Kami has strength, and I believe in her. I always have." Hitomi said.

Kami wasn't going to give up, Hitomi had always believed in her, and even Shikamaru. That's why they trusted Kami to handle the fight by herself. She wouldn't let them down, not now. It was time all her big talk finally turned into actions. Time for her big surprise.

"Here I come fatso are you ready?" Kami growled, smirking.

"Don't you call me that!" he yelled running at her.

"Lightning style, lightning armor!" she yelled covering herself in lightning armor. "Try breaking through this with that earth style bullshit!" She yelled.

"Fine!" the enemy yelled allowing the curse mark to overtake his entire body transforming him into some kind of red beast. "In second state I'm invincible! I can dish out ten times more power than I could before." He said coming at her.

She tried to dodge but he was faster now, he brushed her shoulder and even thought her armor left him electrocuted he still hit her tossing her across the forest and into a tree. As she fell to the ground her armor wore off, so much for that idea, she was going to have to take him out in one hit just like his barrier prison, multiple attacks weren't going to work. He had hit her so hard that when she felt her shoulder she could feel the bones crushed, her collar bone had snapped as well. She gasped in pain as she tried standing up again anyway, but the enemy had made his way over to her and grabbed her throat holding her against the tree.

"Now that I'm in second state I'll need more chakra, so it looks like I'll have to take what's left from you." He said pulling her chakra from her. "Huh? You're drained already, I'm still hungry!" he yelled throwing her onto the ground and placing a foot on her chest.

"Get…off…" she managed.

"I'm sorry what was that? I couldn't hear you." The enemy said.

"I said…get off!" Kami yelled her body suddenly bursting with some red type of energy, some type of different chakra.

Shikamaru and his team had gotten a decent way ahead before Hitomi stopped and marked an arrow on a tree. "It's for Kami, she's supposed to catch up with us right? She's going to beat that guy and then she'll meet up with us."

"Yeah! If anyone can beat that guy it'll be Kami!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Kiba!" Hitomi screamed grabbing his coat careful not to hurt Akamaru. "Quit being so god damn bipolar and just keep your fat stupid mouth shut you hear me! No one likes you when you talk like that all the time! Knock it off or I'll make you!"

Kiba looked at her and realized even Akamaru was trembling in his coat, he definitely didn't want to mess with Hitomi, and her weird purple eyes with the black ripples were just freaking him out even more. He just kept his mouth shut and nodded quickly over and over in hopes she would release him. She sighed and let go of his shirt. He fell to the ground not realizing she had actually lifted him up and off the ground in her anger.

"Let's get going. Let's get Sasuke before she catches up." Shikamaru said jumping off into the trees everyone else following behind quickly.

"_Don't you die on my Kami, we've always been together ever since my parents first took you in. I can hardly imagine my life without you._" Hitomi thought thinking back to the first memory she had of Kami.

Hitomi hated her at first; going from being an only child to having a sibling nearly the same age just wasn't fair but somehow over the years Hitomi and Kami had grown close. Even though they had their moments that was typical of any sister to sister relationship and that's basically what they were, sisters. Hitomi shook her head; Kami would be fine she was sure of it.

The force of energy that had radiated from Kami's body had been so intense that it had blasted her enemy off her and across the forest. She stood up, the figure of a wolf forming in the chakra. In her anger she built lightning up in her fist.

"I hope you're ready you punk." She said her voice sounding more animalistic. "Because you're about ready to die, any last words?" she growled the wolf chakra around her body forming to the ground next to her creating a wolf figure there instead.

"That's what you think!" the enemy said rushing towards her.

The wolf figure jumped from the ground and attacked the enemy. It was just a chakra figure but its attacks cut deep into his body, the wolves claws burning through his skin like hot metal, and it's teeth latching on to his face like a mosquito wanting blood.

Kami screamed running towards him. "Chidori! 1000 birds!" she yelled landing the hit directly in his chest the lightning shooting through his body with such force, amplified by the raging chakra, that it essentially short circuited his heart making it stop completely. It was like an AED that had been amped up 100 times; the power was too much for even his heart to handle.

He fell to the ground then dying instantly as Kami's chakra force receded. This had been the same chakra force that had healed her last time, but this time it was different. This time it was helping her in battle, and once its chakra life force was gone Kami had no real life force of her own left. She walked wearily trying to follow Hitomi and Shikamaru but she couldn't make it. She collapsed against a tree. Was this it for her, would she actually die this time? No one was here to take her to the hospital, not like before. No one was here to tend to her wounds or her crushed shoulder; if she died there…well at least she would know she died protecting the people who needed her most.

Hitomi and the rest of the team kept moving but she nearly stopped for a moment. A pain hit her chest and the only thing she could think of was Kami. She looked back with her new chakra vision, but by then they were too far away to see anything at the fight, however that wasn't how Hitomi ended up interpreting it. She took the worst case scenario, Kami had died. She grabbed her chest, a pain in her heart like a hole that could never be filled.

"_Kami, when I get back, you better be alive damn it. If you're going to die then it's going to be by my hand for scaring me like this. You won't get off that easy_." She thought moving on with the mission. It was a shinobi rule, ninja can't show emotion.

Chapter 13

"We're getting close." Kiba said after Akamaru barked.

"Shikamaru, don't you think it's strange how long we have been going and still haven't come across any traps?" Hitomi asked.

"It looks to me like we've been underestimated. They're cocky. They think we're all dead now and their big guy's the only one following them. They don't need to set a trap for their own man, do they?" Shikamaru said.

"Those idiots, they think we're so weak." Naruto growled.

"We'll that's a little insulting." Hitomi said. "Underestimating us like that."

"I hear you, but now we can take them by surprise." Shikamaru explained. "Just watch." He said transforming into the previous enemy that Kami was fighting.

"It's about time Gerobo." The enemy with short white hair said as Shikamaru appeared.

"It took longer than I thought to eat all that loser's chakra." Shikamaru answered.

"Listen fatso; don't slow us down so you can eat more. You see that coffin; you're the one who's supposed to be carrying it." The girl enemy said. "So do your job you slob."

"Okay." Was all Shikamaru said.

"Well, well Gerobo, aren't you awfully easygoing today." The spider enemy told him.

"So what?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well it's just that I'm not going to be handing over this coffin to you, because you're not the real Gerobo!" The spider enemy said tossing the coffin to a different opponent. "I'll take care of this one. Sakun, Tayuya, get going I'll catch up." He said as Shikamaru pulled a kunai and jumped at him. The two other enemies ran off with the coffin leaving it just Shikamaru and the Spider guy. "The real Gerobo was always scolding Tayuya about her rather course language."

"Hm, you got me." Shikamaru said releasing his transformation jutsu and jumping into the air in an attempt to kick, however it was blocked by a third hand before the enemy spit some type of weird spider web from his mouth sticking Shikamaru to a tree.

Just then about five copies of Naruto jumped the enemy from behind. "Surprised to see me?!" they all yelled in sync. The enemy just laughed and spit webbing into his hands, molding it before spitting it out into a spiral spider web catching all the opponents.

"Fan over fang!" Kiba yelled jumping up to the enemy, but he grabbed onto trees with his webs and pulling himself away from the attack easily. "I won't let you get away!" Kiba yelled.

"You stole my line punk; you should look down at your feet." The spider enemy said grinning; Kiba was standing in more webs, stuck.

"You coward! Do you really think you can stop us that easily?!" Kiba yelled in anger.

The enemy was now hanging from the trees using webs from all six arms; he had no way to get away. It was Hitomi's turn now. She jumped down from above using her chakra vision to pinpoint the perfect hit on his body. She had him, and then he released his webs dropping down and sticking to another branch before spitting more webbing into his hands and molding it and throwing another spiral web out catching Hitomi in it.

"_Damn it, he got me, Naruto, Kiba, and Hitomi. We followed the plan but it's not working._" Shikamaru thought.

"How would you like to see the inside of an airtight cocoon?" The enemy asked surrounding Hitomi in a cocoon of webs.

At first, Hitomi panicked, but once she calmed down she assessed her situation. It didn't matter what she did his webs kept sticking to her. It must've been made by combining his chakra with some type of fluid. The strength of the thread was unreal, even after he released it his chakra kept flowing through it giving it power. The level of his jutsu wasn't even comprehendible, but then again neither was hers. She closed her eyes and focused her chakra, every jutsu has some type of weakness, even hers was sure to have some kind of weakness, not that she knew what it was yet. She focused her chakra into her hands and essentially turned them into blades slicing through the webs finding the perfect spot using her chakra vision. By fusing her chakra into her hand she was able to make the gravitational forces 10 times greater. The webs may have extreme forces holding them together but one touch of her chakra infused hand and the forces were turned against themselves splitting the webs apart easily,

When she emerged from the cocoon everyone was focused on Naruto as his shadow clones had all been taken out and the real one had attempted to attack from behind. Even though Naruto tried to, the enemy still blocked him and managed to attack spitting more webs at Naruto. Quickly Hitomi sliced the web and pulled Naruto out of the way of danger, thank God everyone had been focused on him or she might never have gotten out.

"Thanks for stalling for me." She said placing Naruto onto a branch "The least I could do is save your life." Quickly she freed Shikamaru and Kiba the four of them standing in wait for another attack.

"You little brat, how did you get free?!" The enemy asked angered.

"There are so many things you don't know about me, but you don't really think I'm fool enough to explain them to you, do you?" Hitomi asked glaring at him. "This guy's jutsu, I think I might be the only one who can handle it." she admitted. "Just go on you guys...I'll take care of him." She growled still angry from the Kami situation.

Akamaru whined and jumped into Kiba's coat scared. "What is it Akamaru?" Kiba asked. "Looks like this guy is stronger than the guy we fought before, much stronger."

"I said I can handle it. The only way we'll have any chance of success is by going one on one. Shikamaru you know that by now don't you." Hitomi said looking at him.

"Yeah…that's what we agreed." Shikamaru said quietly.

"If we all stay here to fight we'll never catch Sasuke in time." Hitomi continued.

"But what about Kami she hasn't come back." Kiba said looking at Hitomi, just hoping she didn't kill him.

Hitomi took a deep breath. "We all came on this mission with full intent of finding and bringing Sasuke back to the village, but that's not the only reason we've come. We're on this mission to protect a fellow shinobi and we all knew the risks when we agreed to come along. At the third Hokage's funeral do you all remember when Iruka spoke, do you remember his words?" Hitomi asked.

"When someone passes away it's the end. His past, his future, all the dreams he once had, they disappear along with him. This is true even if he dies honorably in battle as so many have. All the ties that bind him to the living are severed, all but one, the most important of all, people. Parents, siblings, friends, lovers, the people who were important to him, and these people, the ones left behind are joined together in a great circle by their shared memories of him. A circle of friendship trust and sacrifice that grows larger and stronger as time passes. It's hard to explain it; we remain in the circle together. We have no choice, it's important to us." They all recalled Iruka's words.

"Listen, Sasuke's out there right now, heading toward Orochimaru. We can't allow such scum to take someone, anyone from our village. That's not our way, but even more…wherever he is Sasuke is in the darkness. Just…get going. I'll be right behind you." Hitomi said turning away from Shikamaru.

"Well alright, let's do this thing." Shikamaru said standing up off the branch.

"Yeah, and when you catch up be sure you bring Kami too." Kiba said.

"I hope it's so you can apologize." Hitomi teased still not sorry about what she had said before.

The three of her teammates jumped away then, rushing off past the enemy, Shikamaru looking back towards her. He only hoped that she really would catch up with them, and of course that she would bring Kami along, but he knew her chances were slim. He sighed and turned his head forward again pushing on with the mission. Kami and Hitomi's potential sacrifices would all be for nothing if they didn't even complete the mission and retrieve Sasuke. Just then as the three ran off the enemy quickly balled webs in his mouth and threw it put past Hitomi and towards her teammates.

"Not today!" She yelled throwing her hands forward and pushing his webs back towards him. "If you want them you'll have to go through me." She said.

"Heh, fine by me. You're by far the strongest one of the lot." The opponent said spitting another web at her only for her to deflect it again. "I'm really itching to play with you, and we should play slowly otherwise the game's not as fun." He said cracking all his knuckles. "Okay the game is I'll kill you in three minutes or less."

He began spitting web after web at her back and forth in all directions. She deflected one, two three, over and over she threw her hands out deflecting them. It was starting to become tiring and annoying, but he just kept going, more webs flew at her, but she could move just as fast as he was deflecting each of them easily.

"I've had about enough of this, this is getting tiresome." Hitomi said as the webs finally stopped.

"What kind of jutsu are you using?! Some type of wind style?" the enemy asked.

"Not quite." Hitomi said rushing at him even faster than she normally moves.

He spit more webs at her, which she easily avoided, as she ran up to him and hit his chest right where his heart was located. She put an intense amount of force behind it and he flew backwards, threw a tree, and dropped to the forest floor. She dropped down a decent distance from him, she had basically just copied the gentle fist but with even more force. If her hit was correct, and she knew it was, his heart might even burst. She stood there proud of herself for a moment, but when her enemy stood up she realized he had coated himself in some time of hard yellow material.

"Well, well. I'm impressed. If I had actually taken that hit I might be done for." He said as the yellow material cracked and fell from his body. "You keep me on my toes."

She gasped, how had she missed? "That material, where does it come from you monster?" She asked glaring at him.

"Impressive yes? My sticky spider thread's actually a type of metal that hardens the instant it leaves my body. It's impervious to chakra, and what's more not only can I secrete it from my mouth but also from every sweat gland in my body." He said raising his hand and demonstrating.

"Enough of this, I'm done talking." Hitomi said readying herself. She wasn't done just yet.

The enemy jumped into the air and out of her sight. As she looked around she heard something fly from the trees behind her. Jumping out of the way just enough she saw a kunai knife with a paper bomb attached to it hit the ground beside her. He was trying to use her blind spot to attack her from behind, only with these new eyes she barely had a blind spot, it was like the Byakugan and the Sharingan mixed in one, it made sense considering if these were truly rinnegan eyes, then both other ocular jutsu are descendants of this elite jutsu. It didn't take but a moment before she realized the paper bomb wasn't going to explode, using her new vision she could sense sticky spider thread kunai knives coming at her from behind.

"Gravity style barrier!" she yelled placing up a barrier around her and deflecting all the knives easily bouncing them off in all directions only hoping one might fly towards her enemy. She smiled when she noticed the enemy and sent the final kunai towards him making him duck as it hit the tree behind him. "Come out come out, won't you come play with me. I do hate waiting. Shikamaru always makes me wait when we play shoji." She said cocky. It was her turn to show some moves off.

"_It's those eyes, that's how she can see me and sense all my attacks. The power of her visual jutsu is beyond belief. I've never seen anything like it, hell I've never even heard of anything like those eyes, and gravity style jutsu? What kind of kekki genkai is that, or is it some type of mix of jutsu?_" the enemy wondered.

"Come on, I showed you my secret, let's not make it go to waste." Hitomi said.

"Okay then." The enemy said hanging from a tree allowing the curse mark to overtake half his body. "You've made this game more of a challenge, time to start playing for real." She gasped; his chakra activity was through the roof, that curse mark on his neck, what kind of power did he possess now?

"_So basically she can see me in the dark and from behind, so she has 360 degree x-ray vision plus she has that jutsu. Well then_." The enemy thought performing hand signs and a summoning jutsu. When the smoke cleared the enemy was atop a giant spider. Hitomi shuddered and nearly peed herself, she may as well run away now. "I warn you kid, not matter how strong your defenses I'll find a way around it." he said as the spider itself released mass amounts of webbing from its behind. The enemy created a kunai with his sticky spider thread and ripped open the cocoon the giant spider had created which released thousands of smaller spiders.

Hitomi screamed and put up her barrier emanating pulses from it to push the spiders away from her, as far away as she could get them. The barrier was becoming more and more covered in webs; she couldn't see the enemy now. The second she dropped the barrier the enemy threw his made kunai at her from behind hoping to catch her blind spot but at the last second she threw her hand out and tossed the kunai aside.

By releasing the barrier the webs fell onto her body, the chakra in the webs had canceled out the chakra in her barrier, nothing like this had ever happened to her before. She broke through the webs and looked around, where had her attacker gone this time? She cracked her knuckles as more kunai and more spiders flew at her; once again she placed up her barrier. This guy was beginning to get really annoying, using the same moves over and over again; she wasn't even getting a chance to attack. She yelled, more so raged. She let Kami stand back there and probably die and now she was playing stupid games with this idiot.

"You're pissing me off!" she screamed sending out a major pulse of energy throwing everything coming her way in the opposite direction. She let her barrier fall then, "You're getting on my last nerve you hear! No more of these games, I've had enough! I won't have you toy with me any longer and I won't let my friend die in vain!" She spun around quickly and found the enemy hiding in the trees. She threw her hand out and pulled the trees and branches apart revealing him. "Come face me you damn coward!" The enemy stood in shock. No, he couldn't get close to her; she would no doubt kill him. She yelled again. "So be it."

She reached her hands out to him and pulled them to her body with force, yanking him out of the tree and onto the ground. If he wouldn't come face her by himself she would just make him. She grabbed his body using her jutsu, if she just focused maybe she could do it, maybe she could actually tear him apart, but just as he was about to do it he flicked his finger and his giant spider above her fell.

She gasped and released her jutsu hold on him and made a barrier, but it was too much. The spiders mass was too much for her to hold up; it crushed through her barrier and landed on her body. At first she thought she was going to be sick, the giant spider was on top of her, touching her. She used all her willpower just to stop herself from fainting. She fused chakra into her palms and forced it into the spider, making it explode, which was disgusting, but it saved her. At that moment both her and her opponent realized her jutsu's weakness. If someone hit her with enough force not even her barrier was strong enough to repel it. She just wasn't a strong enough ninja to counteract such masses or such powerful attacks.

The enemy had jumped away into a tree again and now he had let his curse mark move onto stage two. Creating a bow with his stick spider thread he laughed knocking an arrow of the same material. Of course, alongside the fact that her barrier couldn't handle the force, everyone had a blind spot; even her rinnegan had the tiniest sliver of a blind spot. Quickly she turned around searching for the enemy but she was too late. She attempted to throw up the barrier but the force of the arrow was too strong, it ripped through and pierced through her chest and out the back through her shoulder blade, just barely missing her heart. The barrier had thrown its trajectory off at the last second, thank God for her quick reflexes, otherwise she'd be dead.

She grabbed her chest where there was now a gaping hole bleeding profusely. She ignored the pain and searched the trees for the attacker. She found him just as he fired another arrow; she moved out of the way easily but…the arrow! It followed her movements! But how, she gasped realizing she couldn't evade it, not completely. She tried making another barrier, but her chakra was too low, jumping just in time she thought she avoided a fatal blow. It pierced her through her stomach, which was when she realized there was a thread attached to the arrow to control it.

She fell to her knees and watched as the thread turned red with her blood. Even if she didn't make it out of the battle alive she wouldn't let her opponent survive. She grabbed onto the thread, the pull was still tight, that meant it had to still be connected to the enemy. Using the last bit of her chakra she searched through the trees with her chakra vision to verify his location. Once she was sure the enemy was there she lifted her hand in his direction getting a mental feel for the position her attack would land.

"Even if I die here today, I will kill you. I can't lose; I can't because if I lose and Kami defeats her opponent then I'll lose yet another contest with her. I can't let her show me up…and I definitely can't let you go on ahead to kill my other friends. There is just no way, I won't be a loser, I won't have died here for nothing. Fuck…you…" Hitomi said.

She sent out her gravitational powers and got a hold on the enemy's body. Closing her eyes and focusing she imagined herself grabbing his heart and crushing it in her hand and just as she closed her fist powerfully the enemy let off one last arrow. She hadn't realized because her eyes were closed to focus, but even though her attack hit spot on and the enemy dropped to the ground blood spilling out of his mouth his heart crushed, the arrow was still flying through the air in line to hit its target perfectly. She opened her eyes to see the arrow flying at her. Time almost seemed slowed as she focused her chakra into the one point where the arrow would hit and made a small barrier just at that spot. As the arrow flew towards her it…

"I guess it's just us three now." Kiba said looking back at Shikamaru and Naruto.

"Well don't worry about that, Kami and Hitomi will catch up soon too." Naruto said.

Shikamaru said nothing. He loved Naruto's optimism but the fact was that both those girls barely had a chance to even defeat the enemy much less defeat them and live through it. They had an even smaller chance to survive and actually catch up to the three of them and be in fighting condition. He knew both girls had the potential to win, but he knew they both had their weaknesses as well. He had to complete this mission; the last people he wanted to die under his command were the two of them. That was why he never took control on the team, he always let Hitomi be in control, this was why. They had never done any kind of mission and failed under her leadership, without her none of them would've made it even to the third exam. She pushed both Shikamaru and Kami to their limits and that was why they had gotten to where they were. Kami would have never gotten to motivation to train on her own had Hitomi not pushed her to do it in the first place, and Shikamaru would probably had never become a chunin if Hitomi hadn't pushed him down into the arena against Temari. If it was the last thing he did he would make sure to complete the mission and he would bring both girls back…alive.

Chapter 14

Akamaru whined. "We're close." Kiba said looking back.

"There's only two of them left, against the three of us. I like those odds. If we play it right the next time we meet them we'll be able to wrap things up once and for all." Shikamaru said.

"I'll say! Two against three, no sweat!" Naruto exclaimed.

"What do you mean it's two against three?!" Kiba asked and Akamaru barked.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that Akamaru." Shikamaru said "You're right it's two against four. I like those odds even better."

"Wait 'til they see our new technique, these clowns won't know what hit them right boy?" Kiba asked and Akamaru barked in response.

"Don't worry about it, once we catch up to them all I have to do is my Shadow Clone jutsu and it's over!" Naruto yelled.

Shikamaru glared at him, "Well that's comforting to know…all the same we're working as a team here right? Just stick to the plan." Shikamaru ordered.

"Oh uh…sure." Naruto said.

"The most important thing is to at least get them in range before the sun goes down." Shikamaru said.

"We'll what are we waiting for? Let's hit it!" Kiba said picking up the pace. The sun was nearly set already, they had to move fast. "Hurry their just up ahead!" Kiba said after they traveled for a while and the sun had set.

"No, we're close enough. We'll stay on their tail but we'll maintain this distance." Shikamaru said.

"What the heck are you talking about?!" Naruto yelled.

"We'll keep them in our sights but we won't attack until sunrise." Shikamaru explained.

"That's crazy! We can't afford to wait until then, what about Sasuke?!" Naruto asked angry.

"Yeah! He's right, besides if we're going to hit them with a surprise attack it'll be an even bigger surprise if we hit them in the dark." Kiba said.

"The darkness might give us an edge at the first moment of contact, but after that it would only put us at a disadvantage right? Don't forget what we're really after. We want to keep them occupied just long enough to get Sasuke out of there. That'll take precision and split second timing." Shikamaru explained. "We need to be able to see clearly. We can't risk going in blind wandering around in the dark. Once they knew what we were up to all they would have to do is fall back and guard Sasuke's coffin. They could take up a defensive position and wait for us to come to them. The advantage would be all on their side. Of course things would be a lot different if we had Hitomi and those new eyes of hers." Shikamaru admitted.

"Aren't you forgetting about me and Akamaru and our sense of smell?" Kiba asked.

"I didn't forget about those sensitive noses of yours, but even so in this part of the woods they've got the geography in their favor, what's more, what's the sense of attacking not when my jutsu's no help?" Shikamaru said. "The moonlight is too dim and there are too many clouds passing over it for my shadow possession to be effective. It's a drag but to be completely safe we've got to wait 'til daylight." Shikamaru said.

"I dunno…"Kiba argued.

"I agree." Naruto said surprising everyone. "Shikamaru's our leader and if he says we wait, then we're going to wait." Naruto said.

"I just hope I'm right." Shikamaru admitted.

Once morning hit the last two enemies stopped noticing the coffin moving, now was Shika's team's chance to make a move. The group appeared behind the enemies catching them off guard.

"Great, now that we need them there is no sign of Gerobo of Kidumaru." The girl enemy, Tayuya, said.

"Sorry just us." Naruto said.

"Who needs those two, I can handle these guys myself." Sakun, the white haired and two headed enemy said rushing towards the three of them. Shikamaru and Kiba jumped at him while Naruto tried to work up his Rasengun. "Fist barrage!" Sakun yelled pummeling Shikamaru and Kiba back into a tree; however it was only clones made by Naruto.

"Rasengun!" Naruto yelled attempting the jutsu on Sakun but Sakun stopped him.

"Tunneling fang!" Kiba yelled tunneling through Naruto's Rasengun shadow clone and towards Tayuya. She realized they had been targeting her the whole time, but she realized too late as Shikamaru's shadow possession overtook her body.

"What hit me?!" She yelled.

"It's called a shadow possession jutsu." Shikamaru said grinning as Kiba flew by and grabbed the coffin Sasuke was in.

"Tayuya don't just stand there get that guy!" Sakun yelled in anger as he flew towards her smashing into her, unable to stop, just as Shikamaru released his shadow possession.

"Here take it!" Kiba yelled throwing the coffin to Naruto.

"Good work Kiba! Got it!" Naruto yelled running off.

"You heard him Shikamaru time to pull out!" Kiba called.

"Don't worry I'm coming!" Shikamaru said running after Kiba and Naruto. "Just as I thought, they left themselves wide open. Sometimes being too sure of your strength can be a weak spot."

"Well whatever, it worked." Naruto said excited.

"It's about teamwork Naruto, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If we just work together nothing can stop us." Shikamaru said.

"He's fast…" Kiba said turning around to see Sakun following them. Akamaru however set some paper bombs and caught Sakun in it, but Sakun jumped from the smoke and tied Akamaru to a tree.

"Akamaru! Hang on!" Kiba said turning to go back for him just as a paper bomb by the two of them exploded and the three of them, Kiba, Akamaru, and Sakun fell into the ravine.

"What do we do?! Kiba and Akamaru aren't back yet!" Naruto yelled.

"And there is another one coming after us." Shikamaru said as Tayuya rushed towards them. "There is no other way; I'll have to deal with this one. You take the coffin and go Naruto."

"But…Shikamaru…" Naruto argued.

"Just get going!" Shikamaru ordered just as another enemy fell down behind the two of them and retrieved the coffin. "Sorry Naruto…Looks like I miscalculated." Shikamaru said not expecting another opponent to arrive.

"Kimimaru…" Tayuya said.

"You were taking too long, Tayuya, and what of our comrades, the other three men, this from the former members of the sound ninja five?" Kimimaru asked.

"Why have you come back here? Your body's…by now your body should be…" Tayuya trailed off.

"My body is too devastated to move on its own anymore, I use the power of my mind." Kinimaru said. "I understand much more now, the strength of my life force has intensified since escaping the prison of human flesh." He continued rubbing the coffin. "This vessel is part of Orochimaru's dream. It has the flesh that Orochimaru desires, but you have taken too much time in retrieving it."

"_Another freak to deal with and he doesn't seem like an ordinary opponent. We need to buy time, sort out the situation. It'd be dumb to confront him with a…_" Shikamaru thought only to be interrupted.

"Hey jerk! I've had just about enough of this nonsense you're yakking about! I'm taking Sasuke back now!" he yelled jumping at Kimimaru.

"Naruto hey wait a second!" Shikamaru exclaimed reaching after him.

Tayuya jumped across the trees to the other side of Naruto and punched him right in the cheek making him fly back to Shikamaru who caught him and placed him down on the branch. Kimimaru quickly left then, leaving Tayuya with Shikamaru and Naruto.

"He took Sasuke again! I've got to go after him!" Naruto yelled.

"Just calm down Naruto." Shikamaru said gently.

"How can I?! He's taking Sasuke away from us, we're losing him!" Naruto yelled.

"_Naruto's right, our mission is to find Sasuke and bring him back to the leaf village. We've got to choose the path that's best for the mission, and if we don't we'll fail._" Shikamaru thought.

"You rodents, I'm going to end this in a flash!" Tayuya yelled pulling out a flute.

"Naruto listen to me, I've got a plan, but you've got to follow it exactly." Shikamaru said explaining the plan quietly to Naruto so that Tayuya didn't hear. "Alright you got it?"

"Yeah." Naruto said nodding.

"It's two on one we've got to advantage. If we gang up on her we've got a good shot what do you say Naruto?!" Shikamaru yelled.

"Let's get her!" Naruto yelled standing up.

"Ha! It doesn't matter how many of you there are you're still just a pair of worthless morons!" Tayuya yelled.

"Don't be cocky! We've got teamwork on our side!" Shikamaru yelled just thinking about how embarrassing it would be to be talking like that in front of Hitomi. He sounded absolutely ridiculous.

"We'll show you!" Naruto yelled as the both of them jumped at Tayuya.

"Bring it on!" Tayuya yelled.

Shikamaru landed his kunai against Tayuya's flute. "Now Naruto!" Shikamaru yelled.

"I'm going to punch her lights out!" Naruto yelled back throwing a punch right past her and landing on a branch behind her, running off to follow Kimimaru.

"What?! That whole thing was a trick! Teamwork my butt you dirty conniving little weasel!" Tayuya yelled in shock at how easily Naruto got past her.

Shikamaru had caught her off guard and nearly got her with his shadow possession again before she jumped away seconds before it touched her. "You sure talk a good game but you go for the oldest trick in the book." He said.

"You fool, you've got some nerve!" She yelled back.

"Oh well, at least I bought enough time for my friend to get away." Shikamaru said sighing. "Hey remember this. A person's jutsu isn't his only weapon." He said pointing to his head.

"You idiot, you really think sending that little shrimp will stop anything? Besides just think about what's happened to your team up to this point, you've probably had to sacrifice one member each time you faced an obstacle just so you could keep moving. I mean what the heck is so special about this Sasuke guy anyway? How many are you going to lose just to save this one insignificant shinobi? You're pretty dumb for a leader." Tayuya said.

"Heh, you've got a point there." He said, she did have a point. Sacrificing Kami and Hitomi, now Kiba and Naruto potentially as well plus himself all in the hopes of saving one person who he didn't even like, and the chances of any of them even leaving this alive were dwindling each second, not even considering the chances they might make it out alive and save Sasuke, those odds were near zero, still it was a mission, and a shinobi always put the mission first. "You see this mission we're on is my first one where I'm the platoon leader, and it's pretty nerve wracking to see your comrades widdle down like this, to be honest I don't know if the decisions I made were the right ones…but as platoon leader I'm responsible for the safety of my men, you would think I would I value the lives of my four teammates over the lives of one guy who's taken prisoner. It's a dangerous mission and if I decided to scrap it I'd have been playing by the book."

"Of course, then why didn't you scrap it?" Tayuya asked.

"It's funny; the world doesn't seem to be playing by the book very often does it, besides there isn't a single person in my platoon who would ever stop fighting and abandon a friend who'd been captured by the enemy, not even if it meant sacrificing all of their lives." Shikamaru said. "That goes for me too. Frankly I'm a lazy cloud watching oaf who's not really cut out to be a leader or bark out orders at anyone, but there is one thing I do pretty darn well for my teammates… and that's believing in them." Shikamaru said standing up proud. "Listen, I don't look at what I've done as sacrificing my men, in fact I don't even believe that any of them are dead. Don't insult my friends, or you'll pay." Shikamaru said putting up his shadow possession hand sign.

"Summoning jutsu!" Tayuya yelled placing her hand on the branch and summoning three giants essentially.

"That's not good, oh well." Shikamaru said shrugging.

Tayuya laughed. "I'll play a little melody of death for you. You shouldn't insult me or my friends either you worm!" she yelled as she began to play the flute.

"_So this is her melody of death!_" Shikamaru thought as the three giants began moving and attacking him. "_She controls them with that flute! Darn it! She keeps getting further away!_" he thought jumped back to dodge the attacks of the giants. "_What do I do, what do I do?!_" he looked up and gasped as two giants were dropping down to smash him. "_Aw man this is not good!_" he thought as they fell and he just barely jumped out of the way. "_These guys are persistent, but I'm starting to get the picture here. Still this isn't going to be a cake walk_" he realized as the giants flew after him.

Down in the ravine Kiba was fighting Sakun who had split in two when Kiba tried to use his wolf fang over fang with Akamaru. The second of the two enemies was able to take over parts of either his brothers body or in this case Kiba's. In an attempt to kill off the invading enemy who was overtaking Kiba's cells he stabbed himself to eject the enemy and save Akamaru. Naruto was off attempting to fight Kimimaru with his Shadow clones and failing miserably, Kimimaru was able to produce his own bones on the outside of his body to create weapons, Naruto couldn't get past them.

Shikamaru was using all his focus and energy just to dodge the attacks coming from all directions of the three giants. Often times he barely escaped an attack by using a substitution jutsu. "I gotta get out of here!" he said jumping from tree to tree as Tayuya sent giants after him smashing the branch where he had been sitting second before he jumped away. "What a drag!" He yelled trying to use his shadow possession but having to jump away again as his branch was smashed by another giant. He thought he jumped away from the giants but he only jumped right in front of a different one, what was he going to do?

"It's over! There's nowhere to run this time." Tayuya said. "You're trapped like a rat."

He was surrounded by her three giants now, "Gotta admit that wasn't bad. The timing was perfect; you got all three of them right where you wanted them, that's quite a tricky tune. Something like that must take a lot of practice." Shikamaru said.

"It does actually. So you figured out I was manipulating them with my flute. You're not as dumb as you look. Not that it'll do you any good, knowing what I've been doing isn't the same as knowing how to stop it." Tayuya said just glaring at Shikamaru.

"Gotta point there, I never was very musical, just ask my mom and dad." He said. "_With that flute she can manipulate her buddies like puppets. That song's comprised of sequences of modulated sound waves, each sequence controlling a specific movement. Great Shikamaru, you can analyze it fine, but what are you going to do to counteract it? She's right, the fact remains I've got no ear for music._" Shikamaru thought to himself.

"No one's ever heard this song and lived. Here's the finale, ninth passage, demon revolution. " Tayuya said placing the flute to her lips again and beginning to play a different song than before.

"_Huh?! She changed the tune!_" Shikamaru thought as the giant's reactions to the music changed and they all three flew at him. "Here they come!" he yelled quickly dodging the attacks only to watch as all three giants sewn mouths opened releasing some kind jelly looking beast with mouths all over it. "What happening?" he wondered confused as the beast from the giants mouths flew towards.

He jumped trying to dodge them but as he fell through the air they came at him again biting him, only they didn't bite him. They bit into his actually physical energy and ate a part of it, feeding off of it. He didn't understand what they were doing or how they were doing it. As he landed on a branch again he threw three shuriken, one at each energy eating beast but they just flew through them and out the other side.

"Wait for it." he said as the beasts came towards him their mouth and sharp teeth waiting to feed. Quickly he placed a paper bomb and a smoke bomb on the branch and second before the weird beasts attacked he jumped away, the bomb exploding just as they came in contact.

"_The second he realizes my material ghosts are going to attack he evades them. He's smarter than I thought, but…_" She thought watching as her ghosts searched for Shikamaru.

Hidden behind foliage on a tree attempted to catch his breath, "_I had to use almost all my paper and smoke bombs back there, and all I managed to do was hide. That white thing…it took a bite of my physical energy and that shuriken passed right through him. These things are more like apparitions with very little mass. They're chakra itself but with an appetite. Probably some kind of chakra that draws its form from eating mental energy, that's why they crave physical energy, it keeps them stable. If I scuffle with those hungry chakra much longer I won't be able to build up my own chakra, they're pretty dangerous. A ninja who can create special chakra like me? She must be using some obscure ninjutsu, which means I should leave those ghost things alone and go concentrate on the one controlling them. The quickest way would be to go and stop the sound of her flute, but with those things around it would be impossible to get close enough. Okay then, the next best option would be to capture those three with my shadow possession jutsu, but that's not going to happen since they never attack me at the same moment. If I let even one escape he'd get to me and that would be it, game over. She hasn't left me any openings on either offense or defense._" He grinned. "_Heh, she must be a pretty good shoji player. Let's see, all I've got left are 12 kunai knives, 9 shuriken, 36 feet of wire, 1 flash bomb and 1 paper bomb. Aw man, it's like playing shoji without and bishops or rooks._" He thought to himself as he placed his hands together in his typical way when he needed to strategize.

"_There's no use hiding, unless you can predict these guys movements there's no where you can run little brat, and when I find you I'll break you in two._" Tayuya thought still searching for Shikamaru.

"_Alright, it's time._" Shikamaru thought opening his eyes knowing what to do. He pulled out all his remaining kunai along with his bombs, "_everything's ready the only thing left is to get it over with. I've got nine moves, I've got to win by then_." He thought looking at Tayuya and throwing his paper bombed kunai at a tree near her. "Game on. That's one." Quickly he jumped away to another tree as his bomb went off.

"_Oh please, my sound jutsu can't be stopped that easily. Whatever you've got planned to beat me, it's not going to work_." Tayuya thought as her demons jumped from the smoke searching for Shikamaru.

"Two." Shikamaru said having thrown a kunai with a flash bomb on the branch above Tayuya without her noticing. "Three." He continued throwing a kunai out from the trees towards Tayuya only for her giant to block it for her, while she sent another in the direction he threw a kunai from. "Here's four." Shikamaru said throwing a shuriken at the wire he had placed on a branch to hold it back, which when cut released a kunai into the air that flew down directly towards Tayuya.

"_Cheap trick you can't fool me_." Tayuya thought making her giant block that kunai as well.

"Five, six, seven, eight." Shikamaru said throwing four more kunai towards her only to be blocked by her giant each time. He threw one last kunai and jumped out of hiding behind Tayuya.

Turning to see him she sent all three giants towards Shikamaru, but just as they were on their way to attack his final kunai hit the string that had attached the flash bomb to the kunai, dropping the bomb down into the air and setting it off.

"_Light bomb! No, he's making shadows with the flash bomb_!" Tayuya thought.

"Nine!" Shikamaru said his final move was made. "Shadow possession jutsu!" he yelled throwing his shadows into the light and connecting them to all three of her giants. "Shadow possession jutsu complete." He said grinning.

"Wait but how?!" Tayuya yelled stopping her music. "How were you able to predict my guys' movement? There's no way someone like you could've heard the slight differences in my musical patterns."

"That's just it; I wasn't listening to the music patterns at all. Can't you think of something other than the melody that would give away your command patterns?" Shikamaru asked placing his hands on his kneed her three giants controlled by him now. "That's right, your fingers."

"It can't be…he could tell their moves by…he's saying he memorized my finger positions? There's no way that's impossible!" Tayuya yelled in frustration.

"You extend your right index finger and ring finger." Shikamaru said imitating her hand position and making all her giants do the same. "Then you place the middle finger and pinky on the left hand the same way. That sound seems to make the crab man stand at the ready. When you press with your right thumb and index finger and move your left index finger and pinky that causes the big guy with the club to charge." Shikamaru said dropping his hands after his explanation. "While you were wasting all your time dodging my knife attacks and trying to locate me, I was observing each and every one of your finger movements and studying how these thugs reacted to them. Analyzed and memorized." Tayuya growled and started to play her flute again, only nothing happened. Shikamaru's shadow possession was too strong. "Don't even try their bound by my shadow possession jutsu. There's one rule of shoji that I always enjoyed the most." He said placing his fist into the air beside him. "Whenever you capture one of your enemy's pieces you can turn it around and use it as your own. From here on, I attack." He said pulling a kunai. "I'll use your own three pieces to hunt you down. What do you have to say about that?!" Tayuya just grinned. "Shouldn't you be a bit more worried, you could at least pull a knife or something?" Shikamaru said disappointed.

"This flute is my only weapon. I told you not one person who's heard the sound of this flute has survived idiot." Tayuya said holding her flute out in front of her.

"You've got a lot of confidence." Shikamaru said jumping from the branch towards her with all three of her own summons to attack.

"Dispel!" She yelled all three of her summons disappearing. Shikamaru landed on a tree confused. "What was that about using my own pieces against me loser?" Shikamaru fell to his knees and covered his face in embarrassment. "It's my move now you rat!" Tayuya yelled but stopped in her tracks. "What the…" she said unable to move.

"Shadow possession success." Shikamaru said his shadow having gone down to the ground on his tree and back up on hers to possess her. "What did I tell you, I'd hunt you down using your own pieces." He said holding a kunai up towards her. "I used them alright; your three pawns were just the bait I needed. In any good strategy the first attack's always a fake out; the tactic is to score on the second move."

"You tricked me." Tayuya said gritting her teeth.

"Yep." Shikamaru said grinning.

"_There's no other way. Now that it's come to this I'll need to summon more power, I didn't think I'd need to go to second state with a chump like him._" Tayuya thought allowing her curse mark to move on to second stage. "_He ticks me off, but I've got to admit for a little punk this guy was pretty impressive._"

"What's this? She changed?" Shikamaru wondered aloud, he hadn't seen the curse mark in second stage like this before; just like his comrades he was confused.

"Up until this point you might have thought you were pretty sharp as a fighter, but from here on things won't go according to your plan." Tayuya growled.

"_What is she?_" Shikamaru thought as Tayuya actually moved her hand slightly. "_No way! Is she strong enough to force her way out of the shadow possession jutsu?! What's up with this tremendous chakra?! My jutsu's going to fall apart; I can't worry about conserving chakra!_" Shikamaru panicked stabbing his kunai into the tree branch at his feet. "_I have to use my other jutsu._" He thought performing his hand signs. "Ninja art, shadow strangle jutsu!" well at least his early morning training with his father was about to pay off.

Shadow hands moved up Tayuya's body holding her firmly in place. "_Is he choking my body with that shadow? It feels just like I'm being grabbed by a real hand._" Tayuya thought. "I am not letting you beat me!" she yelled pulling her flute to her mouth.

"_Darn it, she's got incredible strength, at this distance I can't hold onto her._" Shikamaru thought trying his hardest to keep her in place, but she was too strong she began to play her flute. "_This is bad…_" Shikamaru thought realizing the music was putting him into a genjutsu.

He threw his kunai into the branch on another tree still trying to hold onto Tayuya, but his shadow strangle jutsu failed and instead now he couldn't move his body. Shikamaru saw himself melting away, his body attached to wires and strings. He screamed, he couldn't move, he couldn't think, his eyes widened, he had no idea what to do. He knew how to release genjutsu but he was paralyzed, he had to think.

"Tell me, how does it feel to be the one tied up?" Tayuya asked pulling Shikamaru's kunai from the tree and jumping over next to him. "So you said this was your final move didn't you? Unfortunately it's checkmate! Die little rat!" She yelled moving to stab Shikamaru.

He countered her attack and punched her in the gut; she couldn't understand how he had gotten free until she saw his hand. He had used his shadow strangle jutsu on himself and broke his finger, real physical pain always released a genjutsu. Most the time in fact he was only pretending to be trapped by the genjutsu.

As she attempted to stab him once more she was stopped mid swing. "I already told you this; the first attack's always a fake. It's basic strategy the second move wins the match." He said his shadow strangle jutsu having worked its way around her body to stop her movements. "You might have noticed my second move was a little different than before. With the shadow strangle jutsu; the closer I am to my opponent the stronger my hold on him will be." Shikamaru explained.

"Darn it, I got careless and came too close." She said unable to move.

"No, that's not what did it, it was actually something you said to me earlier, about how your only weapon was this flute, don't you remember?" he asked as his shadow strangle wrapped around her body more and more. "That's right, the reason I threw my last kunai knife right in front of you, I missed on purpose. You said you didn't have any other weapons so I knew all along that you would pick it up and come close to me." He said grinning.

"You're a lot smarter than I thought, and a lot more persistent." Tayuya said.

"On top of that, I'm a nice guy, well most of the time. You'll have to excuse my bad manners I'm not normally in the habit of slugging a lady, but then looking at you, you don't really fall into that category do you? So I guess it's okay!" he yelled going to punch her once more only her hand reached out and caught his.

"You may have escaped my genjutsu but don't let it go to your head, you're still a worm." Tayuya said.

"_She's not completely immobilized by my shadow possession, I've got to make this count._" He thought bringing his shadow strangle to her neck to choke her, however she collapsed on his shoulder before he finished her off and she fought it off. "_Even at this range with her bound up as tight as I can make it she still has enough chakra to push back. I've got to keep the pressure on, let up for a second and I'll get hammered. That's it, if this jutsu doesn't finish it once and for all…_"He thought fighting as hard as he could, grunting in pain, his finger still broken when suddenly his eyes widened.

Chapter 15

Meanwhile off with the others, Kiba was traveling with Akamaru through the water attempting to escape and all of Naruto's shadow clones had been killed. Plus Sasuke had just awoken from his coffin laughing at Naruto thinking they were still friends or something. Naruto's attempts to convince Sasuke to return home failed, Sasuke just laughed and jumped away, he didn't want to return home. Then Lee appeared, Lee who wasn't supposed to be out training yet, much less fighting showed up to help Naruto allowing Naruto to chase Sasuke. Turns out he took a bottle of alcohol with him instead of his medicine, and ended up fighting drunk with, as Guy put it, the loopy fist.

All the while Shikamaru kept fighting Tayuya trying to strangle her, but slowly he was losing, he didn't have enough chakra. "_I've had it…_" he thought. "_This is just like last time with Hitomi._" He had run out of chakra and couldn't hold his shadow possession any long against those nine pursuers when they were following Gaara. If Hitomi hadn't shown up he would be dead, but the chances of her showing up now were pretty close to zero, she couldn't have done any better on her own than he was…then he started to wonder if he was in this situation what had come of Hitomi and Kami, Kiba and Naruto too. He shook it off he couldn't worry about that now, he had to get out of his own situation. "_Stop wasting brainpower thinking about something that will never happen or things you can't find answers to just yet._" He scolded himself. "_Just calm down._" He thought for a while "_Come on I'm wracking my brain here why can't I come up with anything?! I'm at the end of my rope, I can't hold on any longer._" He realized as his shadow strangle ceased to be effective and receded. Just as Tayuya went to stab Shikamaru a giant gust of wind blew her off the tree. Temari stepped down gently, Kankuro had arrived to help Kiba, and Gaara had just saved Lee.

"Who are you?!" All three enemies, Tayuya, Sakun, and Kimimaru had asked.

"Allies of the leaf village, we're shinobi, of the sand." All three members of the sand explained.

Once the three sand ninja arrived it didn't take too much longer before all three enemies were defeated. The leaf and sand village had made up since their scuffle at the chunin exams, but the sand had no real part in the death of the Hokage, it was simply a mission they were given in which they were required to be allies with the hidden sound. It had been some time since then however and their disputes had been settled. Temari defeated Tayuya, Kankuro killed Sakun, and Gaara took down Kimimaru, the battles were over, but Naruto had still been chasing Sasuke.

When Naruto reached Sasuke at the border of the land of fire the two of them engaged in an intense battle where Naruto released the nine tailed fox spirit and called upon its chakra and abilities, and Sasuke had moved his curse mark onto stage two. By the end of the battle Sasuke had escaped and Naruto was nearly dead, but Kakashi had arrived to retrieve him with Pakkun. It was raining, so it had been no use in trying to track Sasuke any longer, he was gone.

As the first and second medical core leaf shinobi arrived to retrieve all members of the Sasuke retrieval team they found what they had hoped not to. Kami was more or less dead, if the leaf shinobi didn't bring her back to the hospital immediately there was no chance for her survival. Her chakra levels were so low and her body was so beaten they couldn't believe she was still breathing. Even through all that she woke up and opened her eyes to see Anko, but what was that behind her? In the trees Kami saw someone else, she thought she was going crazy, it looked just like her. The same face, the same hair, the same everything, Kami tried to speak, but before she got even one word, she was out cold once again.

When the shinobi found Hitomi she had two holes through her, one in her shoulder and the other in her stomach and a final arrow was sticking out from the center of her chest. They weren't sure if it had pierced her heart or not, only that she was barely breathing, if at all and she had no responses to anything they tried. The best they could do was to try and stabilize her condition, along with Kami's, with medical ninjutsu.

Back at the hospital Tsunade was working with any herbs trying to make some type of medication to give to Kami in order to help her restore her chakra. In her state she didn't even have the ability to regain any of it on her own, and so she didn't have the ability to heal. In another room with Hitomi a large group of medical ninja were working to try and accelerate the regrowth or Hitomi's tissues to close the wounds on her body. They had been going for about three hours before there was even any real progress. It appeared that somehow the final arrow to her chest had been stopped just enough to prevent it from hitting and piercing her heart. Between her final attempt with her gravity barrier, her bra, and her sternum it had just barely missed her heart, but her chances of survival were still dwindling even with the medical ninja using all their energy to save her.

Shikamaru was waiting in the hall sitting across from Temari, and twiddling his fingers in anticipation of the news of his comrades. Gaara and Kankuro were waiting to leave back to the sand village. They were currently staying in a hotel room for a few nights, they figured they may as well stay to see how the leaf shinobi recovered, or didn't recover. Shikamaru had left the mission with nothing but a broken finger and Hitomi and Kami were nearly dead, Kiba was in serious condition, Akamaru wouldn't die but he was seriously injured as well. He had gotten his entire team almost killed and still he didn't complete the mission.

"No point in making yourself crazy you know. Don't you remember your psychological training? With every mission comes sacrifice." Temari said crossing her legs. "Quit being such a baby."

Shikamaru just glared at her, she didn't understand what he was dealing with, she just didn't understand his connection to his teammates, how could she? She was some type of evil monster that had no feelings for others at all most likely. She was the meanest, rudest, and cruelest woman he'd ever met. Most women at least had a nice side but he had yet to see hers, even when she saved his life she had still been a bitch about it. He didn't answer; he just walked down the hall where he saw his dad.

"Shikamaru a girl talks to you like that and you just walk away?" His dad asked.

"You bet I do, standing around arguing just isn't my thing, that's something girls do." Shikamaru answered.

"And what are you? You're not a man, as far as I can see you're nothing but a coward. You think if you quit the missions will just stop? Someone's got to do it. Your comrades will be sent out again on other missions with someone else leading them. They'll face the same risks and some of them might not make it, ones you might have saved if you'd been there to lead them, how are you going to feel then? You've got a chance to reflect on your mistakes and to learn from them, use your failures to make yourself a better leader. You won't help your friends by running away, instead you should be trying to make yourself stronger, for their sake, so that the next mission goes perfectly and everyone gets back safe. The choice is simple; you're either a leader or a coward. So which are you?" His father asked.

Shikamaru stood in silence just as Lady Tsunade entered the room. "Kami is going to be just fine." Tsunade said. "The medication along with her own accelerated type of healing ability has brought her under stable conditions. She is pretty beaten up but she'll be alright. I couldn't have done it without your help Shikaku, without that sacred medicine guide I wouldn't have been able to produce a proper medication to allow her to begin the healing process on her own. I thought I almost lost her for a moment. The work that went into that manual and the years of research, we'll it's quite impressive to say the least." Tsunade said.

"Thank you." Shikaku, Shikamaru's father, answered just as Shizune ran down the hall.

"Lady Tsunade! Hitomi Natsuki is safe! Her condition has stabilized!" She said placing her fist on her chest. Shikamaru stood in silence, shocked and relieved that both of them would be alright. "And there is more, I've just received word that Kakashi has returned with Naruto and they he has been examined. His injuries are serious but not life threatening. He's going to be okay."

"Shikamaru, you're mission was a failure." Tsunade said fiercely, he dropped his head in shame tears quietly rolling down his face. "However, everyone's alive and that's the most important thing." She said.

Shikamaru's tears began dripping onto the floor, "Next time…the mission will go perfectly…" he managed walking up to Shizune. "May I…see her?" he asked wiping his face.

"Oh uh…yes. She's in room 213, but please don't tell anyone else. I'd rather no one disturbs her right not but for you I will allow it."Shizune said.

Shikamaru nodded his head and left his father, Tsunade, Temari, and Shizune then and made his was to Hitomi's room. Quietly he opened the door, she was asleep breathing steadily. He pulled a chair to her bedside and looked at her, her chest entirely wrapped in bandages. He held back tears, he had figured Kami would pull through after her last incident and she came out perfectly fine, but he hadn't realized just how serious Hitomi's injuries were. This was the first time he had seen her since they left her to battle alone.

"Shikamaru?" She muttered turning her head to the side.

"Oh, you're awake." He said wiping his eyes quickly.

"Shikamaru…what's wrong. Haven't you forgotten the shinobi rule? No tears, don't you remember all your training?" She asked coughing.

He looked out the window; Temari had said something about training as well. "Training and reality are two different things." He said sighing. "I thought I knew about missions, I thought I knew what it meant to be a shinobi, now after this mission, my first as a squad leader…only one thing is clear…I'm just not cut out to be a shinobi." Shikamaru said dropping his head.

There was an awkward silence for a moment before Hitomi spoke. "You're joking right? If you're serious you deserve to be slapped."

He shook his head. "This mission, I thought all I had to do was depend on everybody else, some leader. I should've done more, but I didn't have the strength, it's all my fault." He said clenching his fist.

"What, are you afraid you might get hurt?" She asked. "Let me tell you something, have you ever heard the story of the White Fang of the leaf village?" Hitomi asked.

"What? The White Fang?" Shikamaru asked confused.

"Alright let me summarize it, the White Fang was out on a top secret mission one day, something to do with some type of secret jutsu or something. They were doing something to deal with the upcoming war, anyway…" she trailed off clearing her throat. "Anyway, the mission went astray and things started going wrong. The White Fang was faced with a difficult decision, the lives of his comrades were in danger, and he either had to let them die and go on with the mission or save his comrades and put the mission on hold, do you know what he did?" she asked.

"I would assume…he went on with the mission?" Shikamaru said not sure.

"No, no he didn't. The White Fang put the mission on hold and saved the lives of his teammates, and do you know what he got in return? When he returned to the village he was shunned, shunned like he was some kind of freak or demon. Over time even the men and women whose very lives he had saved began to shun him, they began to hate him and resent him all because the White Fang saved his comrades and didn't attempt to complete the mission at any cost like the ninja code states, and do you know how the White Fangs tale ends?" Hitomi asked taking a break to breathe deeply.

"Well…no…" Shikamaru said.

"In the end the White Fang killed himself because of the resentment his fellow shinobi showed towards him. When the people whose lives he saved even began to hate him he felt he had no purpose in life. If he couldn't be appreciated he didn't want to live at all anymore." Hitomi said.

"So I don't understand…why did you tell me this?" Shikamaru asked.

"My point is Shikamaru; you did everything exactly how you should've. You proceeded on with the mission regardless of the circumstances. Allowing Kami and I to stay back like that so you could move on and get closer to retrieving Sasuke was exactly what you should have done and I won't sit here and let you tell me you don't have what it takes to be a shinobi. A proper leader doesn't expect to complete the mission on their own, they are supposed to rely on allies, they are supposed to be able to formulate the best way to use their allies' abilities to do a mission properly and that's exactly what you did." Hitomi said.

Shikamaru lowered his head, she was right. "I guess, I'm responsible for all my comrades and the fact that you and Kami almost died and Kiba and Naruto had serious injuries plus we still didn't complete the mission…I'm the worst leader there is."

"Hey!" Hitomi yelled. "Now you knock it off, you knew how difficult this mission was going to be and you put together the best team you could under the time you had and you did the best you could. It's not like you went out there with a team of jounin, you had a couple of genin and one extra chunin. That wasn't exactly the ideal team you know. Shikamaru, you're a great leader, don't let yourself think otherwise just because one mission didn't go according to plan. We had no idea what we were going up against, those guys were a lot stronger than anticipated with those curse marks." Hitomi said fiercely. "But anyway, so is Kami alright then?"

"Yeah, she'll be fine Tsunade said." Shikamaru answered. "And Kiba and Naruto will be fine as well, Akamaru too, thanks to those sand village ninja."

"Sand village?" Hitomi asked.

"Yeah, those three ninja from the exams came and helped us out. It was rather unexpected." Shikamaru said.

"Oh yeah…those sand ninja…" Hitomi said coughing again.

"Hey, take a break; you need your rest…" Shikamaru said. After a moment of silence he moved to stand up.

Hitomi reached out to him and brushed her fingers across his arm. He looked back at her but she had fallen asleep. Chuckling he sat back down and placed her arm back onto the bed, looks like he was staying there for a while. He ended up falling asleep in the chair only to be awoken in the middle of the night to see Kami walking into the room.

"What the hell are you doing here?! Shouldn't you be in bed resting?" Shikamaru whispered angrily.

"Oh shut up. Can I get a moment with her?" Kami asked.

"What for? She's sleeping." Shikamaru said.

"Just get out okay." Kami ordered.

"I don't have to listen to you." Shikamaru said not moving.

"It's okay Shika. Let Kami and I talk alright?" Hitomi said waking up.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and stood up angrily making his way to the hall where he sat on the floor waiting, he wasn't going to bother going home now.

"Hitomi I wanted to talk to you about something." Kami said sitting down. "I talked to the sand ninja, that Kankuro and Temari are annoying, but anyway…I just got to thinking, you know I don't want to go my whole life not knowing who my family is…" Kami said thinking about that girl she saw in the forest when she was found.

"What you mean you want to try and go find them? Kami our whole lives we have assumed they were dead, you mean to tell me now you want to try and figure out your past? What if we don't find anything and what did you talking to these sand ninja have to do with you deciding this?" Hitomi asked.

"Well I asked why they all looked so different and if they were sure they were all actually related. I guess they really are, but it just got me thinking about my family, you know, and when I was battling…" Kami trailed off.

"When you were battling, what? What happened?" Hitomi asked.

Kami closed her eyes and when she opened them again she had a first stage sharingan. "I got these during that battle, right at the end I noticed something different and I realized I had sharingan." Kami said.

"Wow…sharingan, but that means…that means that you're part of the Uchiha clan." Hitomi realized.

"I guess so, not that I really want to be affiliated with them, especially not Sasuke, but we have a lead on my past now and I want to figure out more about it." Kami said.

"Well how did you plan on doing it? The Uchiha clan comes from the leaf village…" Hitomi said.

"Yeah but…I didn't come from here. I just get the feeling I came from somewhere else, if I really came from around here surly people would know about me don't you think, or something about me at least. I want to go searching in other nations." Kami said.

"You really think you're going to find out more about your past by searching in other nations, nations that aren't home to the Uchiha clan?" Hitomi asked confused.

"I don't know, but when I woke up out in the forest before they brought me here I remember seeing a girl that looked just like me in the trees. Either I was seeing myself looking down on my body because I was that close to death or…maybe I have a sibling out there. She looked so much like me it would make more sense to believe I really was seeing myself, but I dunno I just have this feeling…I want you to go with me." Kami said.

"What? You want me to leave here and go with you?" Hitomi asked.

"Yeah…I mean I couldn't imagine doing it without you." Kami admitted.

"Well…let's talk to Tsunade about it after I heal up okay?" Hitomi said closing her eyes. "Get some rest, you almost died again remember?" Kami smiled and got up leaving the room opening the door and hitting Shikamaru with it, on accident but she definitely was rather happy she did so. Quickly he stood up and the two of them glared at each other for a moment. "Shika, get back in here." Hitomi ordered.

Kami just laughed and rolled her eyes as Shikamaru drug his feet as he walked back into the room closing the door behind him. He sat in the chair next to her and quickly fell back asleep, he really hated being interrupted during his naps, or anytime when he was sleeping.

After about a week in the hospital Hitomi was cleared to go, but Kami wasted no time dragging her to the Hokage. "Hey, Tsunade!" She yelled bursting into her office.

"What is it? You just got out of the hospital and it's like you drank a gallon of caffeine. I was really starting to enjoy my break from Naruto and now you come along." Tsunade said filling out some paperwork.

"We're here to make a request my lady." Hitomi said.

"What kind of request? Let's hear it." Tsunade said.

"I want to leave the village." Kami blurted out.

"You what?" Tsunade asked angrily putting her brush down and ignoring her paperwork.

"I want permission to travel the world in search of information about my past, and since the sand shinobi are leaving today I would like to travel with them to the hidden sand." Kami said crossing her arms.

"So basically you want my permission to go be a rogue ninja, traveling the world and not doing any real missions?" Tsunade asked.

"Well yeah basically, but I want your permission so I won't be branded a rogue, but since I'm basically going to be one either way I'll just go with or without your permissions it doesn't really matter to me but Hitomi thought we should ask." Kami said looking at Hitomi.

"Why? Are you going with her?" Tsuande asked looking at Hitomi as well.

"Yes, she has requested that I travel alongside her. Otherwise she'll just be alone." Hitomi answered.

"Well…what about your team? What about Shikamaru?" Tsunade asked.

"I guess that's up to you Lady Hokage." Hitomi answered crossing her arms like Kami had.

"I don't have much of a choice here do it? You'll go even without my consent?" Tsunade asked. Both girls just nodded.

"It's not even just about my past, we don't know much about it and for all I know my entire family could be dead, but it's about wanting to find myself, because the life I'm living right now isn't the one I want to be living. I'm not happy here, even if I never find my family I'd like to find some place to call home, some place where I can really be myself." Kami said.

"And that's not here…" Tsunade realized leaning back in her chair.

"Afraid not, I spent most my time here wondering when I'll get another mission to leave." Kami admitted dropping her head.

"What about you Hitomi?" Tsunade asked.

"Well…I can't say I feel the same way as Kami, but I don't want her to travel all alone. Besides it could be fun." Hitomi said shrugging. "I'll always consider the leaf village my home, but…"

"I understand…" Tsuande sighed. "Well alright, I'll put Shikamaru on team Asuma and transfer Shino over to team Kurenai. Rayne has family business to attend to and her and her parents must return to her homeland, so the squads will still be even. I consent to this travel on one condition, you leave with the sand shinobi as you said, but once you pass through those front gates you no longer become a priority of the leaf village. If you run into danger don't expect me to send anyone to help you, you'll be on your own whether or not you wear that headband, am I understood?"

"Yes." Both girls said.

"Good then, I expect I'll see you again someday…I hope you find what you're looking for out there Kaminari." Tsunade said holding back a small grin. Kami was just too much like her, wanting to travel the world and not be stuck in one place. That's what Tsunade was doing before she was made Hokage.

As they left Tsunade's room it still hadn't sunk in that Hitomi was really leaving the village and probably for a few years too at the least. She wasn't just leaving the village either, she was leaving to go search for something that may not exist on a lead that lead them nowhere but where they already were. If Kami was part of the Uchiha clan the only people who could possibly know about it would be Sasuke or Itachi because they were the only two left besides her, and both of them had turned against the hidden leaf. If they didn't make things hard enough they had to go tell Shikamaru the whole situation. Hitomi headed over to his house while Kami headed towards the front gates, both of them meeting either Shikamaru or the sand shinobi on their way. Shikamaru was supposed to be the one to send off the shinobi from the village, he just didn't know that two more were tagging along than originally planned.

"Shika, so I've got something to tell you." Hitomi said as she walked with him towards the gate.

"What's that?" he asked curiously.

"Well…Kami and I…we'll we're leaving." Hitomi said.

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Shikamaru asked confused now.

"I mean like, we've gotten permission from Tsunade to leave the village with the sand shinobi. We're going to travel the world in search of Kami's past." Hitomi said. "Kami says she isn't happy here and wants to find someplace else to call her home."

"So what, because she wants to leave you have to as well?" Shikamaru asked frustrated.

"No, I don't have to, but I didn't want to make her go alone. She's my friend, more like my sister." Hitomi explained as they reached the front gate, the sand shinobi and Kami waiting to leave.

Kami had already explained the situation and Gaara didn't care what the two of them did as long as they didn't get in his way. He just wanted to leave, they had already been in the village a week that was enough time, and they needed to get back home to protect their village.

"So what, our team is splitting up?" Shikamaru said ignoring Kami and the sand shinobi.

"No, well yes. There is no more team Anko. Tsunade is placing you on team Asuma and she is transferring Shino to team Kurenai because Rayne has to leave as well. Family matters I guess." Hitomi explained.

"Oh…this just seems like such a short notice." Shikamaru said disappointed.

"Hey don't be so down about it, now you won't have Kami and me to bother you." Hitomi said pushing him gently.

"Did you even tell your parents?" He asked.

"No, they don't really need to know. Ever since I became a ninja they haven't paid much attention to me. It'll probably be a week before they notice anything has changed. My relationship with them is a little different than normal families…" Hitomi said dropping her head.

"Are we done here?" Temari asked.

"Oh…yeah thanks again you guys. Sorry about making you guys teach at the academy like that, we were a little short staffed." Shikamaru said rubbing his head.

"Don't worry about it; I did it because I enjoy it." Temari said, Hitomi just rolled her eyes, that lying bitch.

"Yeah me too, those kids are the future of the leaf village military power, gave us an opportunity to evaluate them." Kankuro agreed.

"Yeah…well…have a safe trip." Shikamaru said waving off the five of them like it was no big deal that his entire team was leaving him.

Gaara turned to leave and Kankuro, Temari and Kami turned and followed him. Hitomi stood motionless for a moment just looking at Shikamaru, who didn't look back, before she turned to follow them as well. Was she really going to leave without a proper goodbye? Surely he wasn't just going to let them leave under the possibility he might never see them again.

"Hey you just let me know next time you need saving, call me and I'll come." Temari teased looking back at Shikamaru.

Hitomi stopped in her tracks, was she really going to let this girl have the last word before they left? She turned around and caught Shikamaru's gaze, it seemed like he wanted to say something but couldn't. She took a step back towards Shikamaru when Kami stopped her.

"Hitomi come on let's go, you want them to leave us here?" Kami said grabbing her arm.

"Just…hold on." Hitomi said pulling her arm from Kami and taking a few more steps back towards Shikamaru before just running back towards him. He looked at her surprised and nearly fell over as she wrapped her arms around him hugging him tightly. "I couldn't leave without a real goodbye." Hitomi said.

He smiled and slowly hugged her back still a little taken off guard. "Well…" he said.

"I'll be back again someday, this is still my home." She said pulling away from the hug. "Hey, and next time I see you try growing a little taller short stuff." She said smiling.

"Hey now, I thought we agreed to not insult me being shorter than you." Shikamaru said glaring at her.

"It's okay, I'm allowed to break the rules, I'm leaving. You'll grow, just be sure you're taller than me when I return." She said.

"Hey! Let's go!" Kami yelled as Gaara began walking again, Temari and Kankuro following him.

"Alright I'm coming!" Hitomi called back. "Well, I'll see you again Shikamaru, I promise." She said.

"I look forward to it, I won't forget you, so you better keep that promise." He said smiling at her.

"Hey, be ready to battle me next time I come back." Hitomi said walking towards the sand shinobi and Kami. "I might just ambush you when I return."

"You women are all the same; you had to get the last word in didn't you?" Shikamaru said waving.

She just laughed and ran to catch up to the rest of the ninja. She was sure she would return to the sand village in the future, the only questions was how long she would be traveling the world with Kami looking for something that might not exists on something less than a hunch. Hitomi sighed and looked back one last time seeing Shikamaru watching as the group walked out of sight.

Chapter 16

"So Gaara…you seem different than the last time we met." Kami said.

"Well, so do you." He said walking straight ahead not turning to see her.

"Well I am different. I was a lot weaker when we fought." Kami answered.

"Yes, I can sense the difference in your power. The level of your abilities seems to have increased tremendously, however you still seem just as reckless, going off on your own and nearly dying again." Gaara said.

"Are they really having a conversation?" Temari whispered to Kankuro confused.

"It looks like it…weird." Kankuro responded just watching the two of them.

"Well my opponent was really tough…" Kami argued.

"Couldn't have been that tough, you had the weakest of the five, and I took down the strongest with ease." Gaara said.

"Hey, what? Weakest one!" Kami yelled looking back at Hitomi. "I didn't have the weakest one did I?!"

"Well…I mean…he had the least useful jutsu. There wasn't anything too special about him, but I mean hey Kami he was still really strong I'm sure. He nearly killed us all." Hitomi said laughing nervously and rubbing her head.

Kami glared at her and crossed her arm. Weakest enemy her ass, then why did Shikamaru only leave with a broken finger? His enemy must have been easy, it's not like there was anything special about him. Then again he did have Temari come help him. Kami just laughed then, he had to have a girl come and save him again, even if she did fight the weakest enemy at least she defeated him on her own. She shook her head then; she needed to think of something to talk about. It was already awkward enough and the group was going to be traveling together for several days.

"Kami, so why are we starting in the sand village? Why didn't we go with Rayne to the hidden cloud?" Hitomi asked.

"It's one of the biggest, aside from the land of fire the land and earth are the biggest. The land of lightning is big too, but I figure go big or go home right? And since I don't have a real home now I better go big, so I'll start in the sand and make my way around, you know." Kami explained falling back towards Hitomi.

"It's just going to be a long time you realize. Searching in all these places." Hitomi said.

"Yeah I know…"Kami said.

"What is it you two are looking for anyway?" Temari asked.

"Anything about my past." Kami said glaring at Temari.

"We'll you've got to give me more information than that if you want help." Temari said.

"Look all we know is that I'm obviously not from the leaf village but I have some Uchiha blood." Kami said.

"Uchiha? Well they come from the leaf village so why are you leaving?" Kankuro asked.

"Look I said I'm not from the leaf village alright. You think if my family really lived there someone wouldn't know something about it? Everyone knows just about everything about the Uchiha clan there." Kami said.

"Well they were slaughtered right? So maybe your family was slaughtered but you escaped." Kankuro said.

"So my parents toss me into the forest to keep me from being killed? Then they just leave me there? They don't flee with me, they don't hide with me? Plus if I was found before the slaughter of the clan. That happened when I was several years old, so that wouldn't make sense. That whole idea is wrong on several levels." Kami argued.

"Well I don't know I was just trying to be helpful." Kankuro said.

"Well, maybe staying quiet is the best way to do that." Kami growled.

"We don't know anything about Uchiha outside of the land of fire, but you can still come to the village for as long as you need." Gaara said. "But if your parents just dropped you off in the woods outside the village I doubt they would have traveled this far to do it. They no doubt would have come from somewhere closer. Rather than the land of wind they would have come from the land of rivers, for example perhaps they came from the grass or rain villages. I doubt they would have bothered coming all the way out here, besides the hidden sand village or the land of wind as a whole isn't exactly the ideal place to live. They may have even traveled in the opposite direction to the land of hot water. The chances of them coming to the land of wind are minimal" Gaara explained.

"Well…I guess you're right…" Kami said dropping her head.

"Still, we'll welcome you to the hidden sand." Gaara said.

Temari and Kankuro just blinked in silence, what did Gaara just say? They were in such shock at how much he had changed in the last month. He hadn't even threatened to kill Kankuro since the exams, and now he was not just allowing Kami and Hitomi to enter but welcoming them? They weren't even sure it was the same Gaara; maybe someone had used a transformation jutsu or something. A decent portion of the trip after that was mostly silent; no one was sure what to say.

"Hey Gaara." Kami said after they had traveled for a few days.

"What?" He asked continuing to lead the group.

"Back at the exams…you almost killed me…" Kami trailed off.

"Don't worry, I won't try and kill you." Gaara said. "Things were different then. I had a mission, plus it was the exams, all or nothing. Even more like you said before, I've changed. I'm not the same blood lusting person I was before."

"Well why? What changed?" Kami asked.

Gaara looked at her then back forward walking on. "Fighting that Naruto kid, that was what did it. He just kept fighting for those friends of his. I guess listening to all the things he said…they made me want to become someone who was needed by others, not some monster to be feared. I guess I finally realized that maybe my purpose in life wasn't just to kill others, but maybe I served another purpose something greater, and I realized that I can make my own destiny if try, I decided that the path I wanted to make for myself ended in me being needed by others. I wanted to be something important, so I have started to change myself in hopes that one day I can be known in a different light and appreciated."

"I see…" Kami said thinking to herself how nice it might be to be noticed for something important, to be needed by others. All anyone knew Kami by was her brute strength and bad attitude. "So, what exactly happened to make you want to kill so badly anyway, I know what you said before but…"

"Well…as I said before my mother died giving birth to me and then my father sealed the shukaku away inside me. When I was still young Yashamaru, my uncle, watched over me and protected me. All the children in the village shunned me, I was a freak and everyone was scared of me. The sand that automatically rushed to save me from any attack even began to make me angry. Then one night when I was just spending some time alone as I usually did Yashamaru came up to me, and attacked me. I didn't really have any control over the sand at the time and I ended up seriously injuring him, it wasn't until he explained his hatred for me and that my father had send him to kill me that I began to hate everyone and everything. Yashamaru had bombs attached to his chest and he killed himself in one last attempt to destroy me. That was when I realized that no one truly cared for me and that was when I decided I would care for no one else. Since that day I didn't even care for my own family, not after so many of them had tried to kill me. It wasn't until I fought Naruto that I changed; it occurred to me that by caring for no one else I was only making others resent me more and more. So if I wanted people to want me, to need me, then I was going to want to need other people. It's hard, but it's something I must do if I want people to truly respect me." Gaara explained.

"Hey look, we're almost to the village." Hitomi said.

"Oh yeah…we've been traveling for a while." Kami noticed.

"Well Kami, what are we going to do now? We better find a place to stay." Hitomi said.

"Yeah, and we aren't going to be getting any money now." Kami realized.

"You can stay with us." Gaara said as they entered the village.

"What?!" Temari and Kankuro exclaimed.

"They need a place to stay and they don't have a way to make money. They can stay with us, I'm sure it won't be too long if they're going to be traveling the world." Gaara said. "I don't want any arguments about it."

"Oh…" Kami and Hitomi said. "Thanks…"

"But Gaara…" Temari said.

"No arguments I said." Gaara repeated walking into his house.

Some time passed and Kami and Hitomi stayed in the village. It had been about a month and Gaara had been right, no one in the village or surrounding areas knew anything about an Uchiha man or woman outside the hidden leaf. They were finally ready to leave and go search elsewhere, but something kept them longer. They returned back to Gaara's house one day to see the three of them, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara, discussing something.

"Hey, what's up?" Kami asked walking in.

"The three of us are going to begin teaching young shinobi." Temari explained.

"Oh? Really?" Hitomi asked. "Why not someone else, you're still only genin."

"They don't really have anyone else to do it, besides we're more than qualified don't you think?" Temari argued glaring at Hitomi.

"Oh I don't know, I did kick Kankuro's ass that one time, and Shikamaru outsmarted you remember." Hitomi said placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh whatever you little brat that was months ago!" Temari yelled.

"Don't act like things have changed! You know you'd lose against him just the same as before." Hitomi continued.

"Oh please, his stupid shadow tricks don't faze me." Temari said crossing her arms.

"I bet my jutsu would faze you." Hitomi said.

"Oh you wanna bet!" Temari growled.

"Enough." Gaara ordered. "That's enough both of you."

"You two are always arguing." Kami said shaking her head. "I swear the two of you fight over Shikamaru like two dogs over a piece of steak."

"What are you talking about?! We don't fight over Shikamaru that's stupid." Hitomi said crossing her arms and turning away from Temari.

"Yea, that little runt doesn't mean anything to me. He's just another lame ninja I have to go save time and time again." Temari concurred.

"Anyway!" Kami said annoyed. "So you guys are going to be teaching that's so cool! I want to teach students too!"

"Kami you can't teach students, don't you remember why we came here in the first place? It's been a month and we barely even made our way through this land. We don't live here." Hitomi said.

"Yeah…right…" Kami said dropping her head. She was actually starting to like it in the sand village.

"We start training students tomorrow." Gaara said.

"Temari and I don't think Gaara is going to get any students if he doesn't quit acting the way he does." Kankuro said.

"I'm sure he'll get at least one student. I mean I'd be Gaara's student, he' so powerful. Who wouldn't want a sensei like that?" Kami said smiling at Gaara.

"Oh give it up already Kami." Hitomi said rolling her eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure I will have at least one student, but it doesn't really matter." Gaara said walking into the other room.

"It's that kind of attitude that is going to push everyone away Gaara." Kankuro said.

"Right, because I'm sure all the students want to train under a bitch like Temari or a moron like you Kankuro." Hitomi said shaking her head.

"Well at least I smile." Temari said. "If Gaara would just smile students might actually want to be in his group, but I doubt anyone will want to if he keeps looking so scary."

"Quit insulting him, he's trying." Kami said putting her hands on her hips. "I hope he seriously hurts you one day." Kami said rolling her eyes.

That next day when the sand shinobi began teaching their students Kami and Hitomi said their goodbyes and set out for the land of rivers. They next few villages they would come across wouldn't take long. Their visits would be short and sweet until they got to the land of earth.

Their lives seemed to be relatively calm as they searched each village over the next few years, coming back to the hidden sand every once in a while. Kami had claimed that as her new home, she had even taken the time to make herself a sand village shinobi putting away her leaf village headband, and she had become a chunin finally. Hitomi stayed with her in the sand village, but she still called the hidden leaf her home, and over time Tsunade began sending her requests. Small errands to run while she was in the sand village, after all there was a lot of trading between the land of fire and wind, so she liked to send Hitomi on missions to exchange goods.

Over time they searched each and every village, slowly but surely making their way across each nation. The village hidden in the valley, grass, stones, waterfall, and each time they found nothing. They were beginning to get a little discouraged, running around and not getting any information. They only thing they were really getting done was a lot of training with each other. Kami had begun to master all five types of chakra nature, which was incredible, no one knew how she was able to possess such power, and Hitomi really began to really understand her rinnegan. Together Kami and Hitomi had mastered too many jutsu to count, of all five types of chakra nature. Hitomi was getting better and better at her gravity jutsu her chakra control becoming perfect the more she practiced, and she found herself able to summon creatures on a whim. There only thing she had read about that she wasn't sure of was regenerating body parts and chakra absorption.

She was trying to perfect the chakra absorption technique, but she just wasn't sure how to do it. It didn't come as easy to her as the other jutsu had. Aside from that Kami wasn't sure just what was inside her, but she felt like she was beginning to control it. She could now summon a wolf companion, named Kameko, whenever she needed. Three years passed and they had made their way through all those villages plus the land of earth and had found nothing. They were both 17 now and had grown so much. Hitomi's new favorite weapon of choice had become a Samurai sword and Kami was just sticking with her fists.

Kami's new clothes made for perfect equipment in battle, armor across her chest and a gauntlet on her main hand for punching and physical attacked along with a shoulder piece, and on her left hand a glove for easier chakra flow to make jutsu. Hitomi's clothes weren't anything special, in fact they were rather revealing. She still kept her headband around her neck like a scarf, and she still wore gloves, but her only piece of armor covered her breasts while the rest of her skin was mostly revealed aside from strips of fabric holding the outfit together and covering the basic parts. Both girls wore their hair up, unless they were relaxing in town, which hadn't been very often in the last few years.

When they finally returned to the hidden sand after searching through the land of earth they decided to take a break, they were exhausted from all the traveling but they trained each and every day as well. It was nice to return back home. Hitomi still missed the hidden leaf village, but she had started to accept the sand as her home, she was contemplating becoming a shinobi of the sand as Kami had, but Tsunade had strongly expressed her disapproval on that case.

"I'll see you guy later." Temari said walking out the door just as Kami and Hitomi arrived.

"What? Where are you going?" Hitomi asked.

"Oh me?" Temari asked grinning. "Oh I'm just going to the hidden leaf to prepare for the chunin exams. If you weren't running around doing whatever it is you two do, maybe you would've been chosen to handle it, but I guess they want a proper jounin to take care of it." Temari said. "It's just too bad that you and Kami are still on chunin whilst Kankuro and I are chunin and then Gaara sits on top as Kazekage. That must really suck huh?"

"Hey, just because we aren't labeled jounin doesn't mean we aren't just as capable as you. We've just been too busy actually doing things with our lives." Hitomi said.

"Oh and guess who's me escort? Yeah, Shikamaru. Well it doesn't matter, because I'm the one who gets to go to the hidden leaf to deal with the exams. Later." Temari said walking off, making her way to the hidden leaf.

"That's no fair!" Hitomi yelled storming inside.

"Just calm down, we should go see Gaara, he just didn't know we were coming back. Otherwise I'm sure he would've sent us." Kami said. "Come on, he could probably use a break." Kami said grabbing Hitomi's arm and dragging her to the Kazekage's building and up the stairs to Gaara's office.

"Oh, Kaminari, you've returned. I see you're both doing well. It's been a while." Gaara said as they opened the door.

Chapter 17

"Gaara, it's good to see you. How has the village been?" Kami asked turning to see Kankuro standing in the corner. "Oh it's you."

"We'll thank you for that warm welcome. Maybe Hitomi will be a bit friendlier, hello Hitomi it's nice to see you've returned. Any news on what, Kami's past or whatever?" Kankuro asked.

"Just go away would you." Hitomi said.

"Why is everyone so rude to me?!" Kankuro asked angrily.

"Because you're annoying." Hitomi said walking out of the room Kankuro following her.

"So how have things been around the village then?" Kami asked sitting down in a chair across the desk from Gaara.

"So far things have been going rather well." He said looking out the window. "It's been quite a while since there was any trouble around here. It's been…a little too quite if I must say."

"Well then we've got to spice things up! Quiet is boring." Kami said placing her hands behind her head. Gaara just looked at her and went back to his paper work. "Come on now, don't you think you need a break?"

"The Kazekage doesn't take breaks Kaminari." He said glancing up at her from his work.

"Come on Gaara, tonight, you don't work all night do you? Hitomi and I just got back, we've been gone for months, let's do something. Temari is gone it'll be perfect." Kami said smiling and leaning forward onto his desk.

"We'll see." He said just glancing up at her then back down at his work.

"There isn't any arguing you're taking a break. We've got to celebrate or something. Hitomi and I probably won't be leaving again for a while. It's getting really disappointing not finding anything." Kami said.

"I'm sorry you haven't had any luck. There is one thing I should inform you about while you're here though. You know of a group named the Akatsuki do you not? It seems they are finally making their move, there have been sightings, or it is rumored they have been sighted on multiple occasions in-between the land of fire and wind. The Akatsuki are a secret organization comprised of about ten shinobi. Every single one of its members is listed in the bingo book as S rank criminals. Among the ones who we know of there is Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, and then Orochimaru, it's said that he too was once a member." Gaara explained.

"What? You mean…why do you think they're finally showing themselves?" Kami asked her mind set on only Itachi.

"Well their ultimate objective is still unknown; all we know is that they are after the fox spirit that Naruto possesses." Gaara said.

"What?" Kami asked. "The fox spirit…you don't think they might be after more than that do you?"

"Yes, you mean me don't you? I don't know what they are after or why, but I wanted to inform you both I do not permit you to leave the village. With Temari gone, that isn't something I can control, but because she is gone we are down one of our best ninja, so I request that the both you and Hitomi remain here. We don't know what to expect, and the village could use you in an attack." Gaara said.

"Oh…Of course. I'll inform her." Kami said getting up.

"And Kaminari." Gaara said stopping her.

"Yes Gaara?" She asked anxious.

"The Akatsuki can be identified by black cloaks with red clouds on them." Gaara said. She nodded and began to leave. "One more thing, perhaps I will take a break tonight." He said looking up at her.

"Great!" Kami said excited, quickly running off to tell Hitomi about the Akatsuki.

When she found her she also found Kankuro, annoying her as usual. "Kankuro just go away!" Hitomi yelled tossing her hand towards him and pushing him back a few feet. "Give me some personal space man."

"Kankuro, go." Kami ordered when she arrived.

"You think I just take orders from you because you're on Gaara's good side?" Kankuro asked annoyed.

"Uh no, you should listen to me because if you don't listen to me I'll just beat you senseless you moron." Kami said walking up to Hitomi.

"I'd like to see you try." He said holding his fist up at her.

Kami rushed behind him quickly, her jutsu wasn't the only thing she improved, she was rather fast now as well. "You really wanna see me try?" She asked grabbing onto his clothes from the back. "Should I try now or later?"

He gritted his teeth, man she was annoying. "Alright, just this once." He said pulling himself from her grip and leaving.

"So anyway Hitomi." She began as she explained the situation involving the Akatsuki. "So anyway, tonight when Gaara takes a break and I ask you if you want to do something with us, just make up some stupid excuse for why you can't come alright?"

"You and Gaara. I don't know what you expect to happen, but alright if that's what you want. Because I'm such a good friend I'll do that for you." Hitomi agreed.

Kami smiled and ran off. "Thanks for this!"

A few hours later someone knocked on her bedroom door where both girls had been, Hitomi was currently taking a nap, but Kami was awake practicing her chakra control.

"Kaminari." Gaara said opening her door. "That break?"

"Oh! Yeah!" She said excited standing up quickly.

"But Hitomi is asleep." He noticed.

"It's okay, just you and I can do something right?" Kami asked twiddling her fingers.

Gaara shrugged. "Yeah, why not." He agreed.

Quickly Kami walked over to him and the two of them made their way outside, it was beginning to get darker out and most people had gone inside for the night, so the two of them were perfectly alone while they walked the village. The entire time Kami was trying to get Gaara's attention, but he had never really taken a break from being Kazekage and even while he was outside not doing his work he couldn't help but be constantly aware of the village and its surroundings.

"Gaara, you're so tense all the time. You've got to lighten up a little, at least every once in a while. You'll give yourself an aneurism." Kami said crossing her arms behind her back.

"The village is rather peaceful at night don't you agree?" Gaara asked looking around.

"Yeah, it's pretty quiet, and the breeze is perfect." Kami agreed turning to look at Gaara who had suddenly stopped walking. "Hey, what is it?" she asked.

"Hmm…It's nothing." He said as he began to follow her again. "Tell me, how was your trip."

"Well, once again we found nothing. People in the land of earth have barely even heard of the Uchiha clan at all. It seems like they are more isolated than the hidden mist village." Kami explained. "But we got some good training in. I finally think I perfected a new awesome jutsu, and guess what?" Kami said turning to face Gaara and continuing to walk backwards. "My sharingan is fully active now." She said smiling.

"Very interesting, so what is this new jutsu you learned?" He asked.

"Well there are a few actually; I've been practicing wind style recently. It's a lot harder to get the hang of. Temari might be good with it, but she's got that fan, Hitomi and I on the other hand don't have that type of stuff. I have been working on a jutsu called blade of wind, and another called spiraling wind ball. They sound ridiculous, but they're hard to master. I have to be so precise in my chakra control and…Gaara are you still listening to me?" Kami asked realizing he was focused on the sky and not her.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said "Really, I'm not just ignoring you Kaminari." He assured her.

"Well what's going on, don't you know how to relax?" She asked walking up close to him.

"I guess not. Perhaps you'll have to teach me." He said actually letting out a small, very faint, grin.

Kami smiled and just looked at him for a moment as he looked right back at her. Alright, she was going to take a chance, slowly she began to lean in to him, to kiss him. Blushing she closed her eyes and lifted her hand ready slide it into his hair, but at the last moment he shifted to the side and looked past her, her face slipping right past his. She sighed as she dropped her head onto his shoulder nearly wanting to cry, but before she did he grabbed her shoulders, and…pushed her away.

"Gaara! I thought you wanted to know how to relax!" She yelled almost ready to explode.

"Look." He said pointing into the sky at a giant white bird flying through the air. "When I first saw it I thought nothing of it, but there are no birds like that out here." Gaara said. "Kaminari, go back and tell Kankuro and Hitomi about this. I want everyone on full alert." He ordered before jumping up to the rooftops.

She sighed and trudged her way back to the house to find Kankuro and Hitomi and warn them about some giant white bird in the sky. Honestly it was a bird, what was the big deal? So what some bird got lost and ended up in the skies above the sand village, no big deal right? She mumbled and complained the whole way back to the house, only so she could talk to Kankuro which didn't make her any happier than before. Man he was annoying. As she explained what Gaara had seen Gaara was outside on the roof greeting someone…

"This is as far as you go." Gaara said crossing his arms as an Akatsuki member with blonde hair landed on the roof right in front of him.

The member just grinned and flipped his cloak open, sticking his hand in a pouch on his waist. Gaara wasn't sure what he was doing and he took no risks, sending his sand to crush him the moment he moved. Quickly the member jumped into the sky and landed on his giant bird flying around the village skies as Gaara's sand chased after him. He dropped down into the village streets but still Gaara's sand stayed on his tail no matter how many twists and turns he took. Finally Gaara lifted himself into the sky, standing on his sand to greet his opponent in the sky.

"Tell me, how did you guess I was an intruder?" The Akatsuki asked.

"There are no birds like that one in this dessert." Gaara explained.

"Is that so?" The member asked grinning.

Back down in the village Kami had found Kankuro. "Well how did this so called intruder get into the village? I thought captain Yura was supposed to have tightened security." Kankuro asked annoyed as Kami followed him down the hall.

"Well Kankuro…" Hitomi said walking up next to him and kami. "That's the strange part. The guards tell me that haven't been able to locate captain Yura anywhere."

"What did you say?" Kankuro asked turning to face Hitomi quickly.

"Yes, and Gaara…" Kami began.

"What?! What about him?" Kankuro asked.

"He's fighting in the sky above the village." She finished.

"He's what?! Why didn't you say that sooner?!" Kankuro yelled running to the nearest window.

"Well if you hadn't interrupted me I was getting there." Kami said annoyed as her and Hitomi looked out the window as well.

Outside with Gaara and the enemy they were currently having a stare down. "Well so much for a covert operation." The Akatsuki said. "At least this way, I don't have to go looking for you."

Gaara narrowed his eyes in anger and raised his arms pulling sand from the ground all over the village up and around him creating a giant wave that he formed into a hand like the Shukaku's sending it towards the enemy in an attempt to grab him and his bird and crush them, but he wasn't having any luck.

"The real, fun's about to begin." The enemy said flying up and over the giant hand and throwing out three white birds, just like the one he was riding but smaller versions, towards the sand arm. The birds exploded on impact just like bombs, but they still had no effect. Three more birds flew at the arm exploding and breaking a chunk off, but it was sand, it simply reassembled.

"_Unusual explosive devices, accurately guided to their target._" Gaara thought to himself.

The enemy sent two more birds out then, different from the first one, bigger and faster, towards Gaara creating a gigantic explosion that covered an area too large in smoke for anyone to see.

"Gaara!" Kami and Kankuro yelled rushing outside only to see that his sand had created a barrier around him and protected him. Kami sighed in relief; she should've known Gaara was better than that.

Then she realized Gaara hadn't just protected himself but he also had made a third eye using his sand and while the enemy was distracted with Gaara's sand barrier Gaara had the opportunity to encase the enemy in a gigantic sand prison.

"It's all over." Kankuro said and all the guards began to rejoice.

"Hey, don't get ahead of yourselves. I didn't see him kill that guy yet." Hitomi said.

Everyone's eyes widened then as an explosion occurred from the enemy's sand prison and he flew out only to be caught by Gaara's sand again and tossed back at the sand prison, however the enemy created another bird somehow, and landed on it escaping the sand prison.

"What an idiot. There isn't a man alive who can escape Gaara's sand." Kankuro said.

"Well, for the record that one kind of looks like a woman. Just saying." Hitomi said crossing her arms.

"I can't tell if that was supposed to be an insult just to the enemy or Gaara as well, what are you saying Hitomi? That a girl could escape Gaara's sand? I'm watching you." Kami said glaring at her.

They all watched as the sand flew at the enemy swirling around and trying everything it could to catch him when finally it latched on to his left arm making its way up past his elbow to his shoulder. In an attempt to get it off the enemy threw some other types of bombs at it, but it didn't give, nothing happened, not until Gaara performed his sand coffin and crushed the enemies arm to pieces, and ripped it off.

"It looks like Gaara has resorted to his ultimate defense up there. I think it's safe to assume to enemy he's facing is a serious threat don't you think?" Hitomi asked.

"Well…yeah but Gaara…" Kami began.

"Kami we can't rule out the possibility of Gaara losing control. I know he's different now and it hasn't happened in a long time, but this is the first time there has been unrest in the village for years right? We don't know what to expect." Hitomi said.

"No, you don't have to worry about that. I know Gaara would never harm the people of this village, not ever." Kankuro said. "You haven't been around enough to understand him like I do. Something Gaara once said to me…I know he would only protect this village." He said thinking back to something Gaara had said to him a few years back, after Kami and Hitomi had arrived and before they first left again.

"I've always known doing nothing at all will almost certainly bring even greater pain. I know what I must do, I must clear my own path and perhaps then, the day will come…the day will come when I can be like her. I want to be part of this village so I'm aiming for the title of Kazekage as a shinobi of the sand. I will work hard and give back to the people of this village. Watching Kaminari has brought me clarity. Until I met her, my ties to others brought only pain and sorrow, but she was always pushing me to redefine those ties. I think I finally understand, the suffering and sadness of life, the joy, these are feelings that can be shared with those around me." Gaara had said. "It was her, she's the whole reason my eyes have opened. When we fought, when we talk now we connect, she's known the same pain I have and he taught me that I can change the path my life will follow, as she has changed her and traveled to a new village where she has made a new life. One day, I'd like to become something precious to others too, not just to be viewed as some hideous weapon."

"Alright, summon the council immediately, you take two squads and secure the reservoir, seal the roads in sector A. There may be more than one enemy and I don't care what happened I want all of you poised and ready." Baki, Gaara and his siblings' sensei, said. "Medical core, start setting up a barrier and get all noncombatants inside of it, I don't want to hear of a single casualty is that clear?!"

"Yeah! We're here for you Gaara!" Kami yelled.

"I'm tired of that expressionless face of yours." The enemy said creating something else in his hands.

Gaara and the rest of the village glared at the enemy, when he suddenly dropped a much larger, different type of bomb down to the village everyone gasped including Gaara, were they all going to die?

"That was doll molded from detonating clay, chewed up by my palm and loaded with chakra. It's a specialty of mine, full of C3 the most powerful chakra I possess, its destructive power is my masterpiece." The enemy said.

"Everyone get back!" Hitomi yelled yanking Kami down to the ground in an attempt to block them from the upcoming explosion. The explosion was massive and covered nearly half the village, but as Hitomi looked up she realized that Gaara had managed to use the sand from the village to cover and protect the village from the explosion. "That's amazing…" Hitomi said staring at the giant barrier of sand. "The sheer size of it…"

"I expected nothing less." Kami said looking back up at Gaara just in time to see another bird bomb fly in front of the small hole in his sand barrier and explode. "Gaara!" she yelled in sync with Kankuro and Hitomi. When the smoke cleared they all sighed seeing that he had repaired the hole in his barrier and had survived the blast.

"Lord Baki the attack preparations are complete." A jounin said walking up to Baki.

"Very well, launch the attack on my signal." Baki said as everyone readied the weapons.

Up in the barrier Gaara had just realized that small clay spiders were making their way out of his sand and into the barrier where they would no doubt explode.

"Heh, you might have hurt my left hand, but I used the opportunity to eat your sand and mix it with some of my detonating clay. You duped yourself the moment you tried to use that sand to form a defense and the best part is I planned it that way all along." The enemy said. "True art is…"

"No!" Gaara yelled from inside his barrier.

"An explosion!" the enemy yelled back all his clay spiders exploding inside Gaara's barrier.

"Gaara!" Kami screamed watching his sand fall from around him. "No!" she yelled trying to jump over the ledge and make her way to where Gaara would fall, but Hitomi stopped her.

"No Kami! Don't, do you want to end up like that too?" Hitomi said grabbing her arm.

Kami turned and looked back at Gaara's barrier just watching as the sand continued to fall from around him, crumble to the ground leaving Gaara's sand armor crushed and him barely floating in the air. Slowly Gaara brought his hand up and using all the energy he had left began moving the sand he had used to protect the village.

"What is he doing?" Hitomi asked.

"He's using every last bit of power to transport the sand safely outside the village." Kankuro explained. "He's trying to save his people."

"Such a noble Kazekage, fighting when it would be so much easier to just drop it on their heads." The enemy said from above.

"We must recuse our Kazekage, commence the attack!" Baki yelled as everyone began firing giant arrows with paper bombs at the enemy, but nothing was working.

Once Gaara managed to get all the sand safely outside the village he dropped it, and then fainted falling through the sky. Kami pushed Hitomi off and ran towards him, she would catch him before he smashed into the ground, but before she got there the enemy caught Gaara in his clay bird's tail and flew off with him.

"Gaara!" Kami screamed clenching her fists as her whole body shook.

Another shot fired at the enemy and almost hit. "They might hit lord Kazekage! Tell them to cease fire immediately! Cease fire!" Baki yelled.

"Don't tell me he's leaving the village!" Kankuro yelled as the enemy began heading out of the village. "I'm going after him!" he said running off after the enemy.

"Wait Kankuro! Don't go alone!" Baki yelled.

"He won't I'm going to!" Kami yelled following Kankuro.

"Wait Kami! Don't engage until we catch up to you with a backup squad!" Hitomi yelled knowing there was no stopping her.

"Yeah whatever!" Kami yelled back as her and Kankuro left the village quickly following after the enemy and landing just outside the village.

"Wait hold it." Kankuro said as they came to the exit. "It's way too quiet, we were supposed to have a whole squad guarding this entrance to the village. He landed right on top of them; we should be hearing fighting so then why is it as quiet as a grave? On top of that, they never replied to the message asking them to confirm their position. What's going on out here?"

Slowly they made their way through the exit and found bodies everywhere, some dead and some alive. "What happened here?" Kami asked looking around.

"This didn't just happen; it might have happened before Gaara's battle even started." Kankuro said examining one of the bodies.

"There were Anbu black ops in this unit." One of the jounin that had caught up to them said. "Their attackers must've heavily outnumbered them."

"No." Kami said. "Maybe not, but that doesn't matter. The ones who took Gaara are getting farther away each second, we better get moving."

Kankuro agreed and they all began running through the exit when explosives went off and the walls began to crumble around them. Kami gasped and used her earth jutsu to catch as many rocks as she could while Kankuro pulled out his new puppet which acted as a defensive shield and protected who he could. There were too many rocks that fell in too big an area for Kami to catch them all and move them out of the way and when Baki and Hitomi's back up team arrived only Kami Kankuro and two other had survived.

"These men need medical attention." Kankuro said.

"What are you going to do?" Baki asked.

"Well I know what I'm going to do; I'm going to bring Gaara back." Kami said.

"No! Are you insane! You saw what he did to Gaara, do you think you stand a chance alone?!" Hitomi yelled.

"Yes I think I do Hitomi. You of all people know my skills and…"Kami said but Kankuro interrupted her.

"No, let me go. You should stay back and assemble a better equipped squad, you're right Kami. You've got a better chance of beating these guys than I do, but that's exactly why we can't risk losing you if you go fight alone." Kankuro said.

"But..." Kami argued.

"Just do as I say for once you insolent little brat! I'm tired of you treating me like I'm dirt, I stand higher than you do in this village and it's about time you recognized my authority! If you can't obey me at least this once I may as well have you thrown out of the village!" Kankuro yelled glaring at Kami.

"Go on the Kankuro." Hitomi said grabbing Kami. "But don't engage in combat."

"I'll try, but no promises." He said jumped down from the rocks and chasing after Gaara and the enemy.

Kami just stood silent; Kankuro had actually taken control for once, and that was a first. She was so much in shock in fact that she didn't even argue about staying behind. Hitomi drug Kami back down the other side of the rocks and the two of them and Baki made their way back to the village while the others stay to find the bodies in the rubble.

"Kaminari, assemble a fully equipped pursuit squad and send them after Kankuro at once." Baki ordered. "Use any jounin you find to help you make the perfect team."

"Oh, right of course." She said running off.

"And Hitomi, send word to the hidden leaf village telling them of the situation, tell me we have an emergency now!" Baki ordered.

"Yes sir." Hitomi said running off in a different direction and making her way to the bird cages where she wrote and sealed an encoded message and sent it on the fastest bird in the nation towards the hidden leaf. This was a level one emergency, and Hitomi sent a level one emergency dispatch, this was no joke.

Chapter 18

"Baki." Kami said running up to him with a team. "The pursuit core is ready to go." She said not wanting to wait any longer.

"Okay, head out after Kankuro, but remember if you encounter the enemy avoid a battle if at all possible, your sole objective is to find out where their base is understood?" Baki said.

"Yes, of course." She agreed sliding her foot back just a tad anxious to leave.

"Once we know where they are, we'll move in to rescue the Kazekage, so bring me back their position. Now move out!" Baki ordered.

"Finally." Kami said rolling her eyes and rushing off at full speed with her team.

Back at the council they were all arguing about whether or not they should be looking for a new Kazekage. Hitomi was currently in Gaara's office cleaning up and organizing. As the council argued amongst each other Baki finally spoke up.

"Perhaps we shouldn't be looking for a new Kazekage, but having someone stand in for the time being could be helpful, don't you agree. I have someone in mind; she might be just the right person for the job." Baki said.

"Who? What are you talking about?" another council member asked.

"Why don't we ask Hitomi to just take over the basic duties until we can rescue Gaara? She's already in his office doing most of it anyway." Baki said.

Everyone looked at each other outraged that he would even consider that. "Sir she doesn't even belong to this village." One of the members stated.

"No, that may be true, but she is hardworking and even in situations like these keeps her composure. I'm not saying that we should elect her Kazekage, but just ask that she stands in his place taking care of basic tasks until we know what to expect from the situation with Gaara." Baki said.

No one said anything, the moment of silence just continued for a time until Kami burst through the door and interrupted. "Baki, we found Kankuro, and all his puppet things were smashed to bits and he's in bad shape." She explained. "The units are currently on their way back with him along with those dumb puppets."

Baki nodded and turned to look out the window. "Inform me when Kankuro arrives." Kami nodded and left running down the hall to see Hitomi in Gaara's office.

"Hitomi?" Kami asked confused.

"Oh…Hi…just Gaara's office was such a mess I thought I'd clean it up a little you know." Hitomi said nervously. Really she couldn't stop thinking about what was happening to Gaara, but also who and when they would receive aid from the hidden leaf.

"Hey…don't worry about that." Kami said.

"Yeah…we should…go see Kankuro if he's back. Maybe he has some kind of information." Hitomi said walking out of the office.

Both girls sat outside the room that Kankuro was being kept in and neither of them spoke a word. All they knew was each day Kankuro's condition was getting worse; there was poison in his body that no one had ever seen before. Baki had asked Hitomi to stand in as Kazekage and perform basic duties like fill out paperwork and inform him of any information she received of the situation or any other important information, the whole thing was stressing her out way too much, she wasn't even part of the village and she was almost playing their leader, not that anyone else was aware of what she was doing. Kami was going insane not being allowed out of the village, and she had attempted to escape more than once, but she was always caught at the exit where they were still doing work to clear it.

As the two of them waited in the hall they saw two old people, a man and woman, walking down the hall, Lady Chiyo and her brother Abizo, not that either of the girls knew who they were.

"We were hoping you'd come, please come in." Baki said gasping.

"Hmmm that looks very much like…" Abizo began.

"Yes it's Kankuro, brother of the Kazekage." Baki explained.

"I assume you've examined his blood." Lady Chiyo said. "Fascinating, I've never seen this." She said examining the results.

"Yes we believe it's a new poison." One of the medical ninja said, Hitomi and Kami just sat listening in the hall.

"Any luck finding an antidote?" Chiyo asked.

"No, we've tried everything we have, but so far nothing had had any noticeable effect." The medical ninja explained.

"Of course not, it explains why he let him linger this way instead of destroying him." Chiyo said. "He's confident we won't be able to make an antidote to counteract his poison. To make a man suffer like this how typical of Sasori that is."

"Excuse me…who's this Sasori?" Kami asked standing up and walking into the room.

"Sasori…well that's my grandson." Chiyo explained. "Sasori of the red sand."

Kami gasped and Hitomi stood up in shock. "You mean to tell me that your grandson has a part in the capture of Gaara?!" Kami exclaimed.

"Unfortunately yes." Chiyo said.

Kami balled her fists in anger, why shouldn't she just punch this old woman out right now? She didn't know who she was or care that she was old, all Kami cared about was that this woman knew one of the enemies. Hitomi grabbed Kami's arm keeping her in check as she usually did. Shaking her head Hitomi wondered how much trouble Kami might be in without her around.

Kami sighed and watched as Chiyo attempted to create antidotes, none of them working. "Tell me what other matters have you tried?" She asked.

"As a matter of fact we've asked for a specialist to be sent from the leaf village." Baki explained. "Perhaps it would be best to wait for them to arrive."

"You would have us depend on others? It's because of your dependence on this alliance with a foreign land that our own people have become backward and lazy." Chiyo said.

Kami and Hitomi just gasped, she had some nerve. "No we don't depend on them!" Baki exclaimed. "I surely wouldn't go that far."

"Kankuro is partly to blame. By pursuing the enemy too far he recklessly exposed himself to danger, something a shinobi would never do." Abizo said.

"Instead of trusting and depending on the leaf to come to our rescue, we should concentrate on training our own people to take care of themselves. In any case this alliance is just a pipe dream, they are they and we are we and no alliance will change that. If they send anyone at all it won't be a specialist but more just some useless underling as a simple formality." Chiyo said.

"Hey!" Hitomi yelled. "Now just hold on a second."

"It's the way of the world; everyone only looks out for themselves." Chiyo finished.

"No, you're wrong. The leaf and sand are much closer than you think." Hitomi said proudly wearing her leaf headband. "If the leaf village, no when the leaf village reinforcements arrive I can assure you they won't be just some useless underlings."

"We'll see about that. I'm not even sure why a leaf ninja is here right now, but I don't really like it. Someone escort her out." Chiyo ordered.

"I'm sorry I don't think you know where I stand amongst your people." Hitomi said looking at Baki.

"Please Lady Chiyo, she has done nothing but help us over the years, do not scrutinize her for being from a different land." Baki asked.

Chiyo just turned away from her and quickly went back to Kankuro. "This isn't good, poisons are my specialty, and this is beyond even me." She said. "He has a day at best."

"If you ask me, he'll be lucky to survive until tomorrow." Abizo said.

"Sasori has outdone himself this time, his skills have improved considerably." Chiyo said.

"There has to be something we can do." Baki said looking down at Kankuro with worry across his face.

"There is one person more versed in poisons than I. That old queen of the slugs Tsunade of the leaf village, she was a thorn in my side during the era of the Great War coming up with antidotes for every kind of poison I could throw at her. Who knows, now that we're such great friends with them maybe we could send word for her to come help us with her expertise." Chiyo said almost outraged at the sound of the words she had spoken.

"No, Lady Tsunade is Hokage of the leaf; she can't just drop everything to come help out a village as ungrateful as this one." Hitomi said still angry at Chiyo's words. "Besides it takes three days to get here from the leaf even if she could come."

"I know that!" Chiyo said angrily. "I'm not a fool; I wasn't seriously suggesting we summon her here. That would be the last thing I want, I can't stand that old slug queen."

Kami and Hitomi shook their heads and went home to wait for the leaf shinobi that were supposed to arrive the next morning, and when Hitomi awoke the next morning Kami was gone. Hitomi found her in the hospital trying to convince Baki to let her leave, but he refused. Hitomi shook her head when she arrived, but before she could say a word she heard an annoying voice.

"Kankuro!" Temari exclaimed running into the room followed by Sakura, Naruto, and then Kakashi.

"You…" Chiyo said. "The White Fang of the leaf!" she yelled running towards Kakashi. "I have waited so long revenge at last!" Everyone stared in shock except Naruto who jumped in front of her and blocked her attacks.

"What do you think you're doing attacking Kakashi sensei like that, you wrinkly old prune?" Naruto asked angered.

Hitomi covered her mouth in an attempt not to laugh as Chiyo began to speak. "I haven't forgotten what you did. I've waited for this day White Fang of the leaf, the day I reap vengeance on you for what you did to my son." Chiyo said.

"No no no, wait you see I'm not…" Kakashi began.

"That's enough talk!" Chiyo yelled placing her hands together for some type of jutsu when Abizo placed a hand in front of her.

"Take a closer look at the man sis." Abizo said looking at Kakashi who was just smiling nervously and holding his hands up in surrender. "It's true there is a resemblance but this one is not the White Fang. Besides as you know the White Fang of the lead died long ago, remember when you heard the news you wept in frustrations because that meant you would never have your vengeance, isn't that so sis?"

"Oh well, never mind." Chiyo said as she began laughing maniacally and everyone's just stared at her with blank faces until Kankuro started squirming in pain.

"Here let me take a look at him." Sakura said pulling her hair back. "It might help if you all clear out and give us some room."

"You got it Sakura." Naruto said as he, Kakashi, Abizo, Chiyo, Kami and Hitomi walked into the hall leaving only Temari, Sakura and medical ninja in the room.

"It's been a long time Kami, Hitomi." Kakashi said sitting down.

"Sure has." Hitomi said looking over at him.

He did a double take before finally speaking again. "Your eyes…"

"Oh…yeah, It's just become second nature I keep forgetting they look different." Hitomi said. "They've been like this since I left the leaf village three years ago." She said

"They're…" He began but stopped, hearing Kankuro scream in pain as Sakura tried to treat him in the other room. Kakashi shook his head and began reading his book again forgetting what it was he was going to say.

"Hey, Kakashi sensei, who is the White Fang of the leaf guy that made the old lady go all crazy anyway?" Kami asked.

"Oh…That's a tricky one." Kakashi said closing his book again. "How to put it…" He wondered leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling. "He was…well in a word…he was my father." Kakashi said.

"Huh?!" Kami, Hitomi and Naruto all exclaimed.

"You then…you're the son of the White Fang?" Chiyo asked pointing her old bony finger at him.

"Yeah." Kakashi said rubbing his head.

"So that's why you look like him then…" Kami said sitting down against the wall.

"I'll be back Kami." Hitomi said getting up and rushing off quickly without another word.

Kami just blinked. "Uh yeah okay…"

"Lord Baki, a reply from the leaf village." Hitomi said returning with a scroll and handing it to Baki. Baki nodded, took the scroll and opened it then handed it to Kakashi.

"It says that Team Guy is on its way here to back us up." Kakashi said.

"Well no sense in waiting around for them let's go after the Akatsuki right now!" Naruto yelled running off down the hall.

"Okay but which way are you going? Do you even know where they are?" Kakashi asked. Naruto dropped his head and drug his feet back over to Kakashi where Hitomi and Kami were both shaking their heads. "If you don't mind me asking what have the results been so far in your attempts to pursue the Akatsuki?" Kakashi asked as Hitomi reentered the room with Kankuro.

"Well, first Kankuro went after them by himself and you see how that turned out. Then we sent out a tracking unit in pursuit but we haven't heard back from them yet…" Baki explained.

"What?! You sent out another tracking unit and I wasn't with them? What the hell?!" Kami yelled.

"Kaminari you're too reckless. You'd end up just like Kankuro; I'm doing it for your own safety." Baki explained. Kami clenched her fists and gritted her teeth before running off in anger. Baki just sighed, "Still there is one more problem, we believe that, well it appears that one of our council members, Captain Yura, has gone missing and we don't even know if he's alive."

"So you're saying you've completely lost track of the Akatsuki?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes…we have." Baki said.

"Baki, Kankuro's awake." Hitomi said.

"Can you take me to the spot where Kankuro fought with the Akatsuki? I'm known for having a pretty good knack for tracking no matter how faint the scent." Kakashi said looking at Baki as they all reentered the room.

"No need for that." Kankuro said sitting up. "Where are my puppets? I assume they were recovered right? One of them fought with me while the other carried Gaara away, you might be able to track Gaara's scent but you can definitely follow the one I fought, I made sure of it. You see I have his scent right here." Kankuro said opening the hands on one of his puppets to reveal a piece of cloth. "The last thing I did was make sure I got a scrap of his clothing."

"Even in defeat you went down fighting, just what I'd expect from a sand shinobi." Kakashi said picking up the piece of cloth. "Summoning jutsu!" Kakashi said placing his hand on the ground.

"At your service. Eight ninja hounds." Pakkun said as eight ninja hounds appeared in the room.

"Hey long time so see Pakkun." Hitomi said, Naruto repeating almost the same thing.

"Hitomi can I…" Kami began returning to the hospital room. "Pakkun!" she said walking inside.

"Alright alright, let's skip all the reunions. I need you guys to get on this scent right away." Kakashi said bending over and holding his hand out for the dogs to smell it.

"What is that?" Kami asked having been out of the loop.

"It's a piece of the clothing torn from the enemy Kankuro fought." Hitomi explained.

"Really?! Well one more helping nose couldn't hurt right?" Kami said placing her hands together. "Summoning jutsu!" she continued, placing her hand on the ground and summoning her recently found wolf companion.

"Kameko!" She yelled as the smoke cleared and she found Kameko cleaning himself and his perfect white coat. "Seriously man every time I summon you!"

"What?" Kameko said sitting up straight. "A dog can't bathe himself?"

"Not in front of me you disgusting flee bag." Kami said crossing her arms.

"Well stop summoning me at such inconvenient times." Kameko said getting up and sniffing the other dogs in the room.

"Kameko! Knock it off you freak!" Kami yelled.

"Alright, alright, damn what the hell do you want this time? It better not be some stupid training crap again or I'm out." Kameko said walking over to Kami and licking her hand.

"Don't lick me, that's disgusting!" Kami yelled pulling away from him.

Hitomi sighed. "That wolf has always had quite the personality."

"Look Kameko, can you just do me a favor. Sniff this piece of fabric would you?" Kami asked pointing to the piece of fabric that Kakashi had his ninja hounds smelling.

"You want me to sniff a piece of fabric…What the hell do you need me for? You've got eight other dogs here." Kameko asked.

"Just do it." Kami said covering her face and shaking her head. "Do I have to explain everything I make you do?" Once the other dogs left Kakashi looked down at Kameko a little weary but held his hand out for Kameko. "Hitomi in the hall please?" Kami asked walking into the hall Kameko following behind her once he knew the scent.

"What is it?" Hitomi asked.

"I was going to take Kameko with me and have him search for Gaara's scent but this works out so much better. I'm going to take him now and go after them." Kami said petting Kameko as his tongue hung out of his mouth.

"Kami, why can't you just wait and leave with Kakashi and the rest of the sand ninja? Team Guy is on their way as well." Hitomi said.

"Because Hitomi' we've already waited too long. Who knows how far away Gaara is right now and if we don't get moving we might never catch up." Kami argued. "I'm going with or without your permission, but I wanted to tell you."

"Alright fine, but just do one thing. Wait until tomorrow. You said it yourself, you might have to travel a long way tomorrow." Hitomi said.

Kankuro looked over at Kami and Hitomi then, he had been listening to their conversation, and he remembered what Gaara had said about Kami, how she had been what finally made him change. "Kaminari." Kankuro said.

"Huh?" She asked looking over at him.

"Save Gaara." Kankuro said. "And you too Naruto…"

"Kami just wait for the night. I'm begging you." Hitomi asked once more.

Kami looked around the room then down to Kameko. "Well Kameko…I guess we'll head out tomorrow." She said sighing.

The next morning Kami set out with Kameko before anyone else was even awake, she wasn't wasting any more time. She didn't even waste any time telling Hitomi or asking her to come with, instead she just left on her own with Kameko. Quickly Kameko lead Kami towards the land of rivers, in-between the land of fire and wind.

"We're getting close." Kameko said as they appeared through trees to see a small rive and an archway with a giant rock in-between it. "That's it. They're in there. I can smell Gaara too. So can I go now?"

"Kameko!" Kami yelled glaring at him. "Come on let's go, I can bust through that rock no problem." Kami said grinning while she infused her chakra into her fist.

"No you cant." Kameko said shaking his head. "You see that piece of paper on the rock; it's some type of sealing jutsu." He explained as he jumped down into the water. "I don't have any clue how to break through it either, I've never seen anything like it, but I wouldn't risk just bursting through the rock. Without knowing what might happen we just can't, you could injure yourself or even Gaara. Is it worth the risk to break in there if you might hurt the two of you in the process?"

"No…" Kami said dropping down next to Kameko in the water. "You must be right, there had to be some type of trap, they wouldn't leave themselves that vulnerable would they? In fact I'm a little surprised we haven't come across any traps or any enemies yet."

Kameko sniffed the air and looked around swiftly. "You spoke too soon, you always jinx these things, 'cause look someone is here."

Chapter 19

"Man I thought I'd never find you. Three years searching for you and finally I caught you." A girl that looked exactly like Kami only with short hair said dropping down onto the river. "You sure do you move around an awful lot you know that? Can't you ever stay in one place?" she asked.

Kami gasped her mouth dropping open. "Who…who are you?" Kami asked.

"Oh great, now I've got to deal with two Kami's bossing me around" Kameko said annoyed as he stretched.

"Who are you I asked." Kami said fiercely.

"Oh me? The names Sumiko, and I happen to be your twin sister." The mysterious girl said.

"What?!" Kami asked in shock. "My sister?!"

"You see…hmmm how do I explain... I need your body. It's very important to lord Orochimaru." Sumiko said.

"Orochimaru?" Kami asked confused.

"Yeah you see…I'm Orochimaru's apprentice. I've stood alongside Orochimaru for as long as I care to remember and when it was time for his next vessel, well he wanted to use Kimimaru but he seemed to come down with something." Sumiko said chuckling. "The problem was instead of using me as his vessel he found that little brat Sasuke. Well when Sasuke didn't arrive on time I offered myself for his vessel, but he refused to accept me, he wanted none other than Sasuke and so when the time came he took on some weakling body. He said I was too precious to him, and I was too useful for him to get rid of me yet. The problem was that I didn't want some idiot from the Uchiha line being Orochimaru's next vessel; no I wanted to redeem my family line. All those years living with mother listening to her stories about my father and how he killed himself, well I had taken just about enough. Orochimaru found me when I was about seven years old and took me in, said he saw potential in me, but when he refused my body…I guess…I got a little angry. He said he saw potential in me, but I guess he hadn't seen just how much potential. So instead I came to find you, did my sister possess to kind of power Orochimaru would appreciate? I was sick and tired of everyone thinking the Uchiha line was so special, I was done listening to people talk about them." Sumiko said. "I would be the one who brought my father's death to justice…"

"You're really dumb aren't you?" Kami said. "If you're really my sister then you're part of the Uchiha line."

"What are you talking about?" Sumiko asked.

"Tell me, who is my father and I'll explain the rest." Kami agreed.

"Our father is the one known as the White Fang. At least that's what mother told me. I don't see why she would lie about our father, and of all the men for her to choose I don't see why she would choose him if she was going to lie." Sumiko said.

"What?! The White Fang?! Of the leaf?!" Kami exclaimed.

"Yes." Sumiko answered.

There was an awkward silence; Kami was putting things together piece by piece. Her father was the White Fang, Kakashi's father was the White Fang, that meant…and if she had sharingan then she was part Uchiha as well. So the White Fang had some type of affair with an Uchiha woman and Kami and her sister were the result. Is that why she was just left in the forest, because she was just an accident that her mother didn't want to care for? Then why had her sister, Sumiko, stayed with their mother…Kami gasped. Kami was left in the leaf village to be with her father wasn't she? But he had killed himself, and so Kami never learned who her family was.

"Hey! You're supposed to answer me about the Uchiha ordeal!" Sumiko yelled.

"The woman you called mother was Uchiha you idiot!" Kami yelled opening her eyes to reveal her sharingan. "You don't think I stole these eyes do you? Now about that Orochimaru issue. It's just too bad that he thinks you're worthless, I guess I'll just finish you off now to save him the trouble later." Kami said pulling her glove on tighter and holding her fingers in front of her face.

"Wind style, blades of wind." Kami said emitting chakra from her fingertips and materializing it in what could only be explained as a near invisible long sword.

Over and over again Kami threw her hand in the direction of Sumiko, wind blades being thrown one after another at her. These attacks were in most cases unavoidable because of how quickly they could be created in succession to one another and how fast they moved coupled with their low visibility. It was getting dark outside and Kami was sure that Sumiko wouldn't be able to dodge the blasts as they flew at her. Sumiko flipped backwards several times but the blades kept coming and she gasped as she was mutilated with several blades, until suddenly she turned into a log.

"A substitution jutsu!" Kameko said.

Kami searched around for her sister. "Kameko is she still here?" Kami asked.

Kameko smelled the air. "Her scent is faint, she could still be hanging around in the distance or it could just be what's left from when she was here just a moment ago."

"She really is worthless if that was all the more fight she put up." Kami said.

Just as Kami returned her eyes to normal she felt Kameko bite her arm and yank her to the side just as several kunai flew from the trees and hit the giant boulder. Quickly Kami went back on guard with her sharingan, but still rubbed her arm and glared at Kameko for biting her like that.

"I'm not worthless! Fire style, phoenix flower jutsu!" Sumiko yelled as bursts of fire flew from her mouth in all directions honing in on Kami.

"Water style, water wall!" Kami yelled throwing her hands up and using the water in the river to put out the phoenix flower jutsu.

Sumiko dropped down to the river. "Wind and water? How about this then? Earth style, mud wolves." Sumiko said throwing her hands in front of her as three earth wolves appeared and ran towards Kami.

"I guess I can take care of this one." Kameko said jumping in front of Kami and forming a ball of lighting in his mouth, shooting it out in three directions, hitting each one of the wolves' chunks of their mud flying forward onto his white fur. "Damn her…" Kameko said examining his now browned fur.

"Your wolf uses ninjutsu too?!" Sumiko yelled.

"Kameko uses whatever I teach him." Kami said. "So whatever I can use, he can use."

"So…you can use lightning style then as well…" Sumiko said.

"I can use them all." Kami said grinning. "Kameko, formation one." Kameko nodded and ran off to the side. "Earth style, earth dragon bullet." Kami said summoning an earth dragon from the ground allowing it to shoot giant balls of hardened mud at Sumiko. "Fire Style, fire dragon bullet." She continued breathing fire from her mouth to ignite the hardened mud as it flew towards Sumiko.

Sumiko jumped dodging the first few attacks but she had stopped paying attention to Kameko who jumped from the woods behind her and bit into her neck smashing her into the ground as they landed only for her to disappear in a cloud of smoke. Kameko quickly stood up more or less embarrassed at his failed attempt at an attack.

"A shadow clone." Kami muttered to herself.

"Alright, I think that's enough I barely got one attack in." Sumiko said her voice echoing from somewhere out of sight. "It seems you do have the kind of power I'm looking for. I'll be back to claim it later."

"She's gone." Kameko said sniffing around once her voice ended. "But I smell…allies. Some of the ones from the hospital, but also there is a group coming from the direction of the hidden leaf."

"Oh yeah. Kakashi said Guy's team would be coming to back us up. How far away are they?" Kami asked.

"We have enough time to rest up. You used quite a bit of your chakra in that battle I'm assuming. You just had to show off for her didn't you, typical?" Kameko said lying down in front of the boulder.

"Hey don't judge." Kami said dropping down alongside him. "They better get here fast; I didn't come all the way here to lose Gaara when he's right on the other side of this wall." Kami said placing her hand against the wall.

Kami rested for only a little while before Guy and his team dropped down in front of the wall and looked around. The trees nearby were burned, some chopped to bits, and then there was mud and water everywhere.

"What happened here?" Neji asked.

"Oh nothing, just waiting on you guys before I go insane. Apparently I'm not allowed to burst through this wall and save Gaara and it's really pissing me off!" Kami said standing up angrily just as Kakashi's team dropped down as well along with Chiyo.

"Late as usual…Kakashi" Guy said.

"Well, you see we ran into a little trouble along the way." Kakashi said rubbing his head.

"Can we just get inside now before Gaara dies?!" Kami yelled. "I don't care what it takes; just tell me what to do already…hey where is Hitomi?"

"Hitomi didn't come. She stayed back with Temari and Kankuro. Someone has to protect the village in case someone tries to take advantage of the missing Hokage." Kakashi explained.

"Inside." Neji said interrupting everyone. "It looks like there is a large cavern…but."

"But what?" Kami asked anxiously.

"I just can't quite make out what's going on in there. I see several people…" Neji continued

"What about Gaara! What's happening?! Is he one of the people you see?!" Kami yelled grabbing Neji's arm.

"Just give me a second, I'm trying to locate him now." Neji said shaking Kami off.

"Neji!" Kami yelled grabbing onto his arm again and shaking him.

"Take it easy. Hold on." Neji said "I don't…what is that thing…"

"What thing?! What's going on in there?! Did you find Gaara?!" Kami continued to yell shaking Neji more and more.

"Let go of me." Neji said fiercely.

Kami slowly backed away from him. "I just…" she began.

"Well what did you see?" Sakura asked.

"It's hard to describe with words…" Neji said dropping his head.

"Then we'll just have to go inside and see for ourselves." Kami said looking back at the giant boulder.

"Yeah but…how? It's no use trying to break through; there is a barrier over it." Kameko said stretching out.

"Yeah, otherwise don't you think I'd be in there by now?" Kami answered annoyed.

"So what is your plan?" Lee asked Guy.

"Well Lee it's pretty obvious we need to get rid of that barrier." Guy said.

"Before we can even think about breaking through we should know what kind of barrier it is." Sakura said.

"Exactly why I've been waiting on you guys because I have no clue, now let's speed up the process." Kami said.

"Right! So figure out the type of barrier that's step one right Kakashi?" Guy asked.

"Yeah…hmmm could be a five seal barrier." Kakashi said.

"Five seal barrier?" Kami and Naruto both asked.

"It's a strong layer of protection in which five tags with the word forbidden written on them are fastened around the area that's being guarded. One forbidden tag is in front of us, so four more must be in other locations." Kakashi explained.

"Can't we just pull them off then? Once we find them that is…" Kami asked.

"It's not that easy. The tags are in five different places, but they have to be taken down at the exact same moment." Kakashi said.

"See Kaminari, aren't you glad I didn't let you pull that tag off when we first got here? Just imagine what could've happened if you hadn't listened to me. Man I'm always right aren't I?" Kameko said cleaning the mud off his fur in the river.

"Kameko don't run your mouth, you know that just pisses me off." Kami said placing her hands on her hips and glaring down at her wolf companion.

"The barrier won't budge unless all five tags are removed simultaneously. That's a tall order, and that's only one tag." Kakashi said pointing to the tag on the boulder.

"So where are the other four?" Kami asked. "How do we figure out where the other tags are?"

"Neji?" Kakashi asked looking at him.

"I understand." Neji said using his Byakugan to search. "I found them; one is on a boulder about 500 meters northeast of us. The second one is on a tree trunk beside a river bank 350 meters south, southeast. The third, you'll find 650 meters northwest on a cliff, and the last one is in the woods less than 800 meters to the southwest." Neji said.

"If that's the case each one of them is pretty far apart." Sakura realized. "How will we signal each other?"

"I can handle that." Guy said pulling out wireless radios.

"Good thinking." Kakashi said.

"Okay so we'll stay in constant communication and follow Neji's directions to the tags." Guy said as everyone began putting on their radios. "Okay let's find these tags and get rid of them, team Guy is the faster team so we'll be the ones to handle this mission. Okay Lee you head southwest into the woods, the northeast boulder is all yours Neji, Ten Ten you'll get the south southeast, and I'll take care of the one on the northwest cliff. That's the one in the trickiest location and should be the hardest to eliminate." Guy said.

"Alright what's the frequency?" Kakashi asked.

"174." Guy answered.

"Testing do you read me?!" Lee yelled into the microphone and Kakashi, Ten Ten, Neji, and Guy all grabbed their heads in pain.

"Lee, your microphone's up too loud!" Ten Ten yelled.

"Oh, 1000 apologies!" Lee said without turning his microphone down and once again everyone's eardrums nearly exploded.

"Lee! The mic…" Guy said pointing to the volume setting,

"Sorry guys…" he said after turning his volume down.

"Alright team Guy!" Guy said after recovering from the sound blast. He then placed his hand out in the center of the four of them and grunted.

"Oh right." Lee said placing his hand on top. Guy smiled and grunted more, looking at Ten Ten.

"Oh…okay." Ten Ten said giving Guy a weird look but placing her hand on top.

Guy looked at Neji then and grunted. Neji just stood there starting at Guy with a blank expression on his face and for a few moments they had a stare down. Finally Guy started grunting again louder and louder until Neji rolled his eyes and placed his hand on top of the pile.

"Onward with the power of youth! Ata!" Guy yelled.

"Yeah!" Lee yelled in response.

"Ata!"

"Yeah!"

"Ata!"

"Yeah!"

"Ata!"

"Yeah!"

"And one more for good luck! Ata!" Guy finished.

"Yeah!" Lee yelled in excitement.

"Scatter!" Guy yelled as the four of the split off into their separate directions.

"Oh man that was so cool we should do it too! Kami you can be in it too!" Naruto yelled.

"I would rather not." Sakura said crossing her arms and looking away.

"Nor would I." Kakashi said.

"Not a chance." Chiyo said.

"I would rather stab myself in the heart and have Kameko eat my face first." Kami said doing the same as Sakura.

"Hey now I don't like human meat." Kameko argued.

"Please, you wouldn't even know the difference, for all you know I've fed it to you before." Kami said. Kameko just sat down and stared at Kami with his blank expression of a wolf face. "Oh stop, if I did you liked it." Kami said and Kameko just kept staring at her. "I didn't feed you human flesh okay, get over yourself you giant mutt."

"I never know with you. You probably didn't feed it to me because you ate it." Kameko said cleaning himself.

"Hey! Knock it off! You're a worse companion than Shikamaru!" Kami yelled pushing Kameko with her foot. "Hey wait a minute! You're accusing me of eating humans! Why I outta..." Kami yelled glaring at her wolf.

"I will never understand the relationship between you two." Kakashi said starting at them with a blank face.

"Well I guess it's about time for me to shove off, there's no reason for me to stick around, I'd just be getting in the way." Pakkun said.

"Thanks Pakkun good work." Kakashi said as Pakkun disappeared in smoke.

"Can I leave yet Kaminari?" Kameko asked.

"No, because you're actually useful, you're like another person." Kami explained.

"Excuse me, I'm better than a person. Can a person lick their genitals?" Kameko asked.

"No! And we don't need a demonstration either! I think most of us prefer it that way." Kami said rolling her eyes. This was the wolf in which she was destined to fight alongside, seriously what kind of sick joke was fate playing on her?

"Alright let's recap the mission. Team Guy will find their seals and wait until further notice. When everyone had reached their destinations we will all remove the tags on my signal, at the same time team Kakashi will remove their tag and just like that the five seal barrier will be broken." Guy said.

"Then once the barrier is gone Sakura and Kami will destroy the boulder at the entrance." Kakashi said as both girls stood in place, Kameko standing a distance back while Naruto and Chiyo stood right by the entrance. "That will be our signal to charge inside and rescue Gaara. Ready when you are Guy. We'll make our assault using the button hook entry."

"Let's do it." Kami said staring at the boulder and infusing her chakra into her fist.

"On my count, 1…2…3…now!" Guy said as everyone removed their tags.

"Now Sakura!" Kakashi yelled jumping from the boulder.

Sakura ran at the boulder and smashed her fist into it making cracks across it; her blow was quickly followed by Kami's fist which broke the boulder into pieces showing the gigantic opening into the cavern. Kami gasped, they would finally get inside to Gaara. Kameko quickly ran up to Kami's side as the six of them jumped inside to see two Akatsuki, the one who took Gaara and the one who fought Kankuro, waiting inside with Gaara dead on the ground beneath the blonde one, who was sitting on him.

"Finally." The blonde one said. "Which one of you would be the jinchuuriki?"

"You…" Naruto said. "You're going to pay for this!" he yelled.

"The one who bursts in and starts barking." The other enemy said. "That must be him."

"Sasori my man I think you're right." The blonde enemy agreed.

Kami clenched her fists and growled and Kameko showed his teeth. They might bicker but they were a team and anything that outraged Kami that much was reason enough for Kameko to be just as furious.

"You monsters…Just who do you think you're sitting on! Bastards! Get off of him before I kill you!" Kami screamed at the top of her lungs.

Chapter 20

"Woah…hold on…we've got two barkers." The blonde Akatsuki said. "Itachi should've been a little more helpful."

"Gaara…" Kami said looking at him tears forming in her eyes. "Gaara come on, get up. Answer me Gaara…Answer me!" She yelled.

"That's enough Kami." Kakashi said. "You know full well that…"

"Your friend's right and you know it too. He's nothing but a shell now." The blonde Akatsuki said slapping Gaara's face.

Kami screamed and ran towards them at full speed but Kakashi jumped in front of her quickly along with Kameko grabbing the cloth hanging down from her clothes.

"Cool it, charge in without thinking and we're done for." Kakashi said.

"I'd say that one is the jinchuuriki." The blonde enemy decided indicating Kami.

"Kakashi get out of my way!" Kami yelled.

"Kami, I'll do whatever you say, but Kakashi is right. We don't know what we're up against here. Didn't one of them take down Gaara? We have to tread carefully or we'll lose more than just Gaara. Are you really willing to get yourself killed for someone who is already dead…?" Kameko asked. Kami just stared down at Kameko a tear rolling down her cheek, Gaara couldn't be dead he just couldn't be.

"Alright, one of you two is going to have to clarify which one of you is the jinchuuriki." The Akatsuki who had taken Gaara said.

"You're looking at him." Naruto growled running up to Kami's side behind Kakashi, his eyes red from the fox spirit inside him.

"Oh so I was wrong? Then the little girl must be his girlfriend or something." The enemy continued. Everyone just glared at the enemies not sure what to do. "What is something on your mind Sasori my man?" The blonde enemy asked.

"I'll hold onto him." Sasori said. "Since it appears that the jinchuuriki and that girl will stop at nothing to get him back."

"Yeah, that's putting it lighting." The other enemy said.

"Okay, it looks like the guy on the left is the one who infiltrated the sand and took Lord Kazekage, which means the other one is the puppet master who wounded Kankuro so badly, Lady Chiyo's grandson Sasori huh?" Kakashi said.

"Well my man, I doubt that you'll want to hear this but I'll just go ahead and say it anyway. I think I'll take care of the jinchuuriki." The blonde Akatsuki said smiling.

"Look, our quota is one of these; don't push your luck…Deidara." Sasori said.

"An artist must ever seek greater stimulation, lest his sense go dull on him, right my man? Rumor has it the nine tails jinchuuriki is pretty powerful, a canvas truly worth of my artistry." Deidara said.

"What?! Those pyro techniques of yours art? Art is a work of beauty, captured and left for posterity. Art is eternal beauty." Sasori said everyone just glaring at him.

"Eternal beauty, are you kidding me? Look don't get me wrong, as a fellow artist I respect your point of view, but true art is fleeting, a flash of beauty burning brightly and then vanishing in a heartbeat." Deidara argued.

"What did you say?" Sasori asked glaring at Deidara. "Apparently Deidara, one of us doesn't understand what true art is."

"That would be you my friend." Deidara said.

"Don't they remind you of someone?" Kameko asked.

"Shut up idiot." Kami growled.

"Nonsense. Eternal beauty is what constitutes real art." Sasori disputed.

"Don't be absurd, true art only lasts a moment." Deidara conflicted.

"Enough is enough!" Naruto and Kami both yelled having heard just about enough of the Akatsuki bickering. Naruto pulled a scroll and summoned a giant shuriken in which he threw at Sasori only for it to be blocked by some type of metal tail without Sasori even looking or wavering from the conversation.

"Are you trying to make me angry?" Sasori asked.

"Hey take it easy, I told you you wouldn't want to hear it didn't I? Give me a break will you?" Deidara said.

"I don't need to remind you what happens when I get angry do I?" Sasori asked pulling his metal tail around his body towards Deidara. "Why don't you explain it to me again Deidara."

"Art is one thing and one thing only." Deidara said standing up. "The explosion itself." He said tossing a clay bird out and using some type of jutsu to make it big enough to ride as his bird had been during his battle with Gaara. "It's not even in the same league with your grotesque puppet show." Deidara continued as the bird picked Gaara up in its mouth and it flew into the air once Deidara jumped onto its back. "See you around my man." Deidara continued as the bird swallowed Gaara.

Kami gasped turned to watch as Deidara flew out of the cavern. Quickly she and Naruto ran after him chasing as fast as they could. Kakashi yelled after them and chased them out shaking his head, as always they just couldn't help themselves.

"Naruto, Kami and I will handle the one outside, Sakura you and Lady Chiyo deal with the one inside, but please don't do anything rash until team Guy arrives." Kakashi said rushing out after Naruto and Kami and lifting his headband to reveal his sharingan, Kami had already had hers going.

"Looks like they've started." Deidara said. "How confident are you in that little girl and the old lady?" Deidara asked.

"Go on Sensei. Go to Sakura, we can handle this." Naruto said but Kakashi didn't move. "Go on sensei, don't worry! We can take care of it I said!" Naruto yelled jumping at Deidara full force.

Deidara quickly maneuvered out of the way and Naruto instead smashed into the cliff which was followed by an explosive being thrown at him which Kakashi threw a kunai at to ignite before it reached its target.

"Let go of him! I'll never let you have him!" Kami yelled jumping at Deidara her chakra infused fist flying out in front of her to attack however Deidara just simply moved out of the way easily again her fist smashing into the mountain causing a large chunk of it to crumble to the ground as Kameko quickly knocked Kami out of the way.

"To this day we've destroyed two jinchuuriki not including this one, but no one has ever tried to save them from us before. In fact it seemed most people were actually happy to be rid of them. I might understand this nine tails jinchuuriki, he can't forsake one of his own kind, he feels connected, but you, I don't understand why you would work so hard to get this shell back. No one has ever cared for a jinchuuriki before." Deidara said as Kami and Kameko landed back down on the archway outside the cavern.

Back in the village Hitomi was going crazy waiting on some kind of report about the situation involving Gaara. All they had heard so far was that Captain Yura had been found; it seemed he had either been a spy or under some very strong jutsu in which Itachi and Kisame projected themselves and their chakra through the bodies of the sand jounin to fight off team Guy and team Kakashi. To top it all off Hitomi had gotten wind that Kankuro and Temari had just taken a group of shinobi after Gaara against what they had been ordered to do. Hitomi felt useless but with all their best shinobi out of the village Hitomi felt she had to stay behind in case of some kind of attack. There were still quite a few shinobi left in the village, but they weren't anything special. Hitomi sighed; she just hoped that Kami would return with a Gaara that was alive and well.

Meanwhile back with Kami, Deidara was just floating in the sky teasing her and Naruto while Sakura and Chiyo had begun a battle against Sasori. Kakashi stood outside wanting to see how Sakura was handling herself, but he knew he couldn't leave Naruto and Kami alone, they would do something rash and wind up dead or worse.

"I've had enough of this, hand Gaara back you bastard!" Kami yelled as the bird in the air swallowed Gaara more and more. "Why you…you're not getting away!" Kami yelled rushing after Deidara as he began to fly away down the path of the river, Naruto right on her tail.

"No, stop!" Kakashi yelled.

"Just stay back and help Sakura, we can handle this guy." Kami said however Kakashi didn't listen and instead he followed right after Kami and Naruto. "You can keep running but I'm not done yet!" Kami yelled dodging bombs that Deidara threw at them.

"Just remember that Naruto is the whole reason he's here, he won't go so fast at to lose us, just give me a minute to work out all the kinks on the strategy I've got." Kakashi said.

"Well hurry it up Kakashi, he's getting faster!" Kami yelled speeding up to catch him Naruto right on her tail. "You're slowing me down, I'm going on ahead!" Shortly after she said that there was a large explosion behind her and then Deidara stopped. "That wasn't…" she began as her and Naruto stopped.

"Well I finally got rid of that dumb copy ninja, taking you two down shouldn't be that hard." Deidara said.

"You wanna bet!" Kami yelled. "Kameko formation…" She began.

"No!" Kakashi yelled grabbing her arm "Don't do it."

"Aw man I could've sworn you just bought it back there." Deidara said.

"Sorry but it wasn't the real me that blew up." Kakashi explained. "Next time you should teach your critters to tell the difference between a real human and a shadow clone. That is if there is a new time."

"Alright those are the words I like to here. Now don't move!" Kami yelled as she threw her hand signs up.

"I could say the same to you." Kakashi said grabbing Kami once again just as Deidara flew off. "It'll be alright, we'll get Gaara back so calm down. Listen you're not used to fighting an opponent like this. Not to mention you both excel more at close range combat and he is a long range fighter."

"Kakashi sensei I can do it! I've learned so many new jutsu!" Kami argued. "Kameko and I can do it, just let us try! You don't even know what we're capable of."

"Look, there are only two ways to fight this foe, either force him to fight up close and personal or beat him at his own game. With you and I Kami we easily meet all the conditions for sustaining long range combat, however it's not as easy as it sounds. We can't just chase after him. He'll never leave himself open." Kakashi said.

"Who said anything about chasing? I think about time we make our attack. Kakashi, like I said let me…" Kami began.

"He infiltrated the hidden sand and took down Gaara all on his own, and what's worse, he's an Akatsuki, now think about it." Kakashi said glaring at Kami. "We can't just go rushing in there. We need a plan. We need to find a way to punch a hole in his defenses, now if you're following me keep listening, I've got a plan."

As Kakashi explained his plan the three of them began chasing after Deidara again. Kaminari and Naruto had calmed down, but they were still anxious to get the battle over with. Kakashi was taking too long for Kami's liking.

"Kakashi sensei, aren't you done yet?" Kami asked annoyed.

"Be patient. I'm not as young as you two are and I don't have as much chakra, it's going to take some time." Kakashi said as he traveled holding a sand sign in front of his sharingan. After another short while Kakashi pulled his hands down and opened his eyes. "My preparation is complete." He said revealing his mangekyou sharingan "My new sharingan."

"It's about time." Kami said aggravated. "Oh Kakashi sensei, don't sweat it if this doesn't work. I'll be sure to settle things once and for all."

"Yeah, I'm sure you will if it comes to that." Kakashi said as they kept moving on ahead following Deidara. "Time to give it a try; you two better fall back a little." Naruto and Kami nodded and dropped back behind Kakashi. "Mangekyou sharingan." Kakashi said looking up at Deidara in an attempt to pull Deidara's body into oblivion.

"Hey Kami how come you don't have a cool sharingan like that?" Kameko asked.

Kami gasped and looked down at him. "Well…umm because…hey don't ask stupid questions like that. Come on." Kami said as the two of them followed closely behind Kakashi.

"I was just saying, Kakashi only have one sharingan and he's better with it than you are with both." Kameko continued.

"You know what, I think I'll have you neutered, yea that sounds good." Kami said grinning.

Kameko just shut his mouth and looked ahead as Kakashi managed to suck Deidara's arm into oblivion and cut it off leaving him armless, but Kakashi had missed his real target. He was trying to kill Deidara not just injure him. Kakashi opened his eye again and attempted the mangekyou once more, but it was putting a lot of strain on him and he couldn't quite get it right and when Deidara swooped down into the forest Kakashi landed on a tree branch to take a rest. Kami however had taken a different path to follow Deidara and as he glided through the trees he turned to the side too late to see Kami jumping at him. Using her blades of wind she sliced off the head of the flying clay bird where Gaara was being kept and grabbed it with the help of Kameko brining it safely down to a tree branch.

Quickly the two of them began to tear through the hard clay to find Gaara. As she finally broke a hole in the clay and found Gaara he was just sitting there motionless. She gritted her teeth and looked down at his emotionless blank face. Holding back tears she reached her hand down to Gaara's face to feel his cheek, it was cold. Running her fingers through his hair she let tears roll down her face, she wasn't even thinking about where Deidara might be she could only think about Gaara, lucky for her Kameko had her back.

"Maybe I'll give you all a rematch someday." Deidara said.

"You've let down your guard." Kakashi responded as Kameko jumped from the trees behind Deidara and bit him in the shoulder tackling him down off the tree.

"Now Naruto!" Kameko yelled releasing Deidara and kicking him in the chest causing Deidara to fly towards the ground and giving Kameko the jump he needed to get back up to Kami.

The fight between Deidara and Naruto raged on while Kami sat with Gaara's dead motionless body, and Kakashi rested in a tree. By now Kami had pulled Gaara out of the clay head and was holding him in her arms tears rolling down onto his face from hers.

"Gaara…wake up Gaara…" she said looking down at him.

"Kami…" Kameko muttered rubbing against her for comfort.

"Tell me he's not dead. Tell me this is all a dream or a genjutsu. Tell me that he's just sleeping tell me something good Kameko." Kami cried out.

"I can't…because I'd be lying." Kameko said sniffing Gaara. "He's gone." Man that mutt definitely wasn't subtle.

Kami looked away from Gaara not able to handle seeing his face, and she saw a good portion of the forest destroyed and Sakura and Chiyo who had just arrived. Just as Kami was about to speak they heard more fighting in the distance, Guy's team must've found Deidara. Deidara dropped down from above and landed next to his clay bird which he proceeded to take a bite out of.

"I think it's time I reveal my ultimate weapons." Deidara said as bit by bit bulges protruded from his body.

"He's concentrating all his chakra into a single point! Everyone get out of here immediately!" Neji yelled as it soon because clear that Deidara himself was going to explode.

Kami quickly picked up Gaara and jumped away from the blast with Kameko, but they were too slow they weren't going to make it out of range in time when all of a sudden the blast disappeared. Kami landed on the ground next to Kakashi only to turn around and see that Kakashi had used his mangekyou sharingan to send the explosion into oblivion.

"It worked…just in time." Kakashi said before collapsing to the ground.

"I don't get it, what did you do?" Sakura asked.

"Sent the explosion off into a different space." Kakashi explained. "Is everyone okay?"

"Well…"Kami said looking down at Gaara.

"Let me…" Sakura said as they took Gaara out into an open field where she examined him using her medical ninjutsu.

Kami stood over Gaara waiting for Sakura to say something good, but instead Sakura only stood up and shook her head. Kami gasped and looked down at Gaara's body, he really was gone. She wiped tears from her face but couldn't stop them from coming as Kameko rubbed up against her hand only for her to push him away and take a step closer to Gaara.

"Why…why did it have to be Gaara? He was the Kazekage; he just became the Kazekage…" Kami said.

"Try to calm yourself Kaminari." Chiyo said.

"Just shut up!" Kami yelled looking back at Chiyo in anger, tears rolling down her face.

Chiyo gasped, Kami's eyes, her sharingan were different now. The black circles that had been in her eyes as expanded and it was as if they were swirling into her pupil like a vortex. Her mangekyou sharingan had awakened without her realizing, looks like she was going to get the cool sharingan like Kakashi had. As Kami looked back at Gaara her sharingan returned to normal before receding back to just her normal red eyes.

"If the rest of you sand shinobi hadn't put that demon inside of Gaara then none of this would've ever happened! Did you ever even think about how Gaara felt?! Did you ever even ask! Calling him a monster, calling him a freak, what gives you the right to label him?! Who are you to decide someone else's fate?!" She yelled the tears rolling faster and faster as she tried wiping them away. "I couldn't save him…it's my fault isn't it…" Kami said dropping to her knees beside Gaara her tears falling onto his chest as she laid her head on him, covered her face with her arms and just cried. Chiyo slowly walked up to Gaara and knelt down beside Kami, gently pushing her aside as she placed her hands on Gaara's chest. "What do you think you're doing?! Leave him alone, haven't you already done enough?! Do you really need to disrespect him even when he's dead?!" Kami screamed moving to knock Chiyo away from Gaara.

"Kaminari, don't…it's not what you think." Sakura said pulling her back away from Chiyo.

"What?" Kami asked.

Sakura just glared at her. "It's going to be alright, she's bringing him back." She explained.

"She's bringing him back…what are you talking about? How is that even possible?" Kami asked confused.

"This jutsu, only Lady Chiyo knows it, it's a special jutsu." Sakura said.

"What do you mean special?" Kami asked looking down at Chiyo who was beginning to grow weaker. Kami worked her way around to the other side of Gaara and looked Chiyo in the eyes. "Use my chakra." Kami said holding her hands out to Chiyo. "Take as much as you need to. That'll work wont it granny? Please…" Kami said another tear rolling down her face.

"Place your hands on top of mine dear…" Chiyo said. Kami nodded and placed her hands on top of Chiyo's the revival process speeding up as the chakra that was being emitted doubled as Kami felt her own life slowly being drained from her. "In this world of shinobi created by frivolous old people, it's a great comfort to know that new souls like yourselves have come along." Chiyo said "Up 'til now, everything I've done in my life has been wrong, but at least here in my final hour I can finally do something right for a change. The sand and the leaf, may the future that awaits them be different than the way things were in our time. This special power of yours that I feel within you, the special powers inside all of you will change the world dramatically. Become something the likes of which have never been seen, help those closest to your heart and never forget who you are and what your meaning in life is. Kaminari…do me a favor…please, look after Gaara." She said.

"Gaara?" Kami said looking down at him as Chiyo fainted and Gaara slowly began breathing again. "Gaara?!" Kami asked once more. "Gaara wake up, wake up Gaara everything will be alright." Kameko licked Gaara's face and in an instant Gaara sat up and opened his eyes in shock. "Gaara!" Kami exclaimed catching him and holding him up.

"Kami!" Gaara said in surprise. Kami smiled, he had actually called her Kami that time, but more than that he was actually alive. "I thought…I would never see you again." He said sitting up straight, taking her face in his hands and kissing her passionately. She froze and blushed, Gaara was kissing her, perhaps this was all just some crazy dream. Everyone around them just gasped and Temari and Kankuro's mouths fell open before they looked away almost in disgust. Quickly Gaara pulled away to see nearly all the village shinobi had arrived. "Uh…what is this?" Gaara asked embarrassed.

"They all came running to help you, you have everyone worried half to death." Kami said rubbing her head. "You're alright then?" Gaara just nodded and all the shinobi went from shock to rejoice, some of them even began crying at the sight of Gaara being alive and well. "You gave us all quite the scare." Kami said trying to act casual like she hadn't just bawled her eyes out and been kissed in front of everyone.

"Yeah…tell me about it you gave us a whole ton of grief there little brother." Kankuro said finally walking over to him.

"Ugh will you two quit putting on airs already!" Temari yelled. "Gaara's the Kazekage remember? Show a little respect you nitwits."

"Don't push your luck Temari." Kami said getting in Temari's face and glaring at her.

Temari just glared back and shoved Kami out of the way. "Gaara talk to me, how do you feel?" she asked.

Gaara just blushed slightly looking back at Kami. He tried to get up but Kami held him down, ignoring Temari's rudeness. "Don't get up yet, your body hasn't finished recovering." She said letting him fall back into her arms.

Temari scrunched her face at Kami and crossed her arms. "Well. I see how it is." She said standing up to block all the other women her were attempting to see Gaara.

"Kaminari…I know we don't usually get along, but thanks." Kankuro said.

Kami smiled. "It's not really me you should be thanking. Its granny Chiyo over there, she saved him with some kind of amazing medical ninjutsu." Kami said. "She must've got tired or something and passed out. She'll be awake though soon right?"

Kankuro looked over at her. "No, she used that jutsu. She wasn't using medical ninjutsu it was a reanimation ninjutsu, granny Chiyo is…gone. It's a ninjutsu that allows you to bring someone back from the brink in exchange for your own life."

"What?" Kami asked looking over at Chiyo. "It can't be."

"Years ago in our puppet master core a jutsu was secretly developed to breathe life into actual puppets. Granny Chiyo lead that project. They did come up with a method for it, however midway they concluded there was too much risk involved. It was classified as forbidden jutsu before any testing could be involved and it was sealed away." Kankuro said.

Kami looked over at Chiyo and lowered her head in shame. All those things she had said to her and then she gave her life to save Gaara. Kami saw Sakura hold Chiyo tighter and let out a few tears before Kami turned away again and looked at Gaara who had the same typical blank expression on his face.

"Lady Chiyo used to always say that she didn't care about the future of the sand village. She wasn't the type of person who would do something like this for Gaara. As much as I hate to admit it…Kami you changed her. Without you being here…Gaara might be…" Temari trailed off.

"Don't worry about it Temari." Kami said as Gaara tried to stand. "Gaara are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He said as he tried standing again. Kami took his arm and helped him up and the both of them stood over Chiyo. "Everyone, pay her your respects and bid her farewell." Gaara said closing his eyes. Everyone around him did the same, closing their eyes and paying respects to the woman who had saved Gaara's life.

Chapter 21

Once everyone paid their respects Kami wrapped Gaara's arm around her shoulder and Kankuro wrapped Gaara's other arm around his shoulder as the group of them began making their way back to the hidden sand, everyone was waiting for their Kazekage. When they were finally in sight of the entrance, the entire village was there waiting and cheering for Gaara.

"That's what I call a warm welcome." Kankuro said.

"Yeah." Kami agreed tears coming to her eyes at just how many people really cared about Gaara.

"Look at how many people there are." Lee said.

"Just what you'd expect for the Kazekage." Neji said.

"No doubt." Ten Ten agreed.

When they finally were close enough the village people ran up towards Kankuro, Gaara, and Kami and surrounded them in joy. Baki and Hitomi made their way through the crowd to the front and Hitomi sighed upon seeing both Gaara and Kami safe.

"I am happy you are safe." Baki said taking the words right out of Hitomi's mouth.

"Thanks to these people." Gaara explained.

"Kaminari Nambake, I never thought I'd see the day where I actually had to thank you for not listening to me." Baki said looking at her.

Kami smiled. "Well thanks Baki, but…the truth is I hardly did anything at all really…" She admitted.

"Lord Kazekage, your people are waiting to welcome you home." Baki said as the village people cleared a path for the group to enter. "Come lead the way."

"Alright then shall we go?" Kankuro asked as they began walking towards the entrance.

"No wait…" Gaara said stopping them. "Not yet." He said turning around to face Lady Chiyo's covered body.

"Yes you're right." Temari agreed.

"Let us honor the memory of Lady Chiyo, a moment of silence." Baki ordered as everyone bowed their heads and closed their eyes in silence while the men carrying her made their way into the village first.

Once everyone arrived back in the village things slowly returned to normal. Gaara claimed his place as Kazekage and relieved Hitomi of any duties and the leaf village shinobi began to prepare to make their leave. Kameko had gladly returned to his home waiting to be summoned the next time Kami required his assistance.

"You guys aren't leaving yet are you? Surly you can stay a little longer." Kankuro said as the leaf ninja were about to head out.

"Kankuro's right, you can at least stay another day or two. You need time to rest." Temari agreed.

"Believe me I wish we could." Naruto said.

"Me too, but we must report back to malady the Hokage right away." Sakura explained.

"You don't think I can get a word with Kakashi sensei before you go do you?" Kami asked, her and Hitomi standing beside Gaara on his left, Kankuro and Temari on his right.

"I'm sorry Kami. If the Akatsuki have managed to penetrate this far into the sand I'm worried about the leaf village's safety. Another time, perhaps you will come visit us soon." Kakashi said.

"Yes but Kakashi sensei, are you sure you can handle that trip in your condition?" Hitomi asked.

"Don't worry; I've got comrades I can rely on to get me there." Kakashi assured her.

"Well I was sure to send the preliminary report with Takamaru. He is our fastest bird, but I didn't mention anything about the fates of the two Akatsuki." Hitomi said.

"I'll report that to Tsunade myself, there is something else that has been bothering me." Kakashi said.

"Well alright if you insist. Say hello to everyone back in the village for me, I hope to return soon." Hitomi said smiling. "Shall we give our respects to Lady Chiyo once more?" Everyone nodded in agreement and slowly made their way to her Chiyo's gravestone.

"Is that…" Sakura asked when they arrived in front of the stone.

"Lady Chiyo's resting place." Gaara answered.

"She didn't want a headstone on her grave but despite her wishes I thought it best to give her one. I thought for sure people would want a place to come and remember her." Abizo said.

"Everyone say your farewells." Kakashi said as hey all lowered their heads for Chiyo once more.

Once they were done they all made their way to the exit of the village. "Have a safe trip." Gaara said gently taking Kami's hand. The leaf shinobi nodded and they all turned and began their journey back home, Kakashi leaning on Guy for support.

Kami elbowed Hitomi. "And you thought I was crazy or something for trying with Gaara." She whispered.

"Oh please." Hitomi said pushing her back and heading back into the village, Kankuro and Temari following her.

"Kami…maybe we can speak alone tonight." Gaara said releasing her hand and looking at her.

"What's wrong with now?" Kami asked.

"Just stop by my office in a few hours." Gaara said walking off leaving Kami alone.

"But…but…" Kami whined as he walked away. She crossed her arms and pouted as she stomped her way back to her room where Hitomi was waiting. "Hitomi!" Kami whined flopping onto her bed.

"What now?" Hitomi asked rolling her eyes.

"He said tonight we can speak alone. What's wrong with now?!" Kami complained.

"Maybe he's planning something special." Hitomi said lying down on her bed with her hands behind her head. "I mean who knows. I hear he already kissed you in front of the whole village; he definitely isn't trying to be secretive. That would be dumb wouldn't it?"

"So you think he's going to do something special?!" Kami asked sitting up in excitement.

"I don't know. I don't know Gaara very will I'm just saying, you're overreacting." Hitomi said closing her eyes as she slowly began to float in the air, practicing her gravity jutsu.

"Oh poo." Kami said pushing Hitomi and breaking her focus causing her to fall to the ground.

"Kami!" Hitomi yelled glaring at her.

"Don't Kami me I'm having a crisis here." Kami said.

"You're having a girly moment and it's annoying." Hitomi said narrowing her eyes annoyed. "Just relax will you. When it comes to Gaara it's like you're a whole different person."

"Because I lo-" Kami began.

"Don't say it!" Hitomi yelled covering Kami's mouth. "Will you just calm down. You can tell Gaara that when you see him later. You're driving me insane."

Kami mumbled under Hitomi's hand finishing her sentence she had started before and then removed Hitomi's hand from her mouth. "Well when you start freaking out about Shikamaru I'm not going to help you out." Kami said glaring at Hitomi.

"For the last time I don't like Shikamaru." Hitomi argued laying back down in her bed.

"Whatever you say." Kami said grinning and lying down on her bed as well.

Several hours later Hitomi had fallen asleep having practiced enough with her jutsu. It was dark out now so Kami got up quietly and left the room slowly. Once she closed their bedroom door she ran down the hall to Gaara's office. When she reached the door it was closed which was unusual, Gaara usual kept his office open to visitors but this time it was closed, dark, and quiet. Taking a moment to catch her breath she quietly opened his door peaking inside his office.

It was dark inside, all the lights and the fan were off and Gaara was not as his desk. Confused and aggravated she walked inside closing the door behind her. Quietly she walked up to the window in his office and looked outside, the streets were quiet and empty, and she was confused. Gaara had said come to his office right? Kami smashed her fist into the wall in anger and turned to leave but gasped as something, someone was standing in her way.

"Gaara…" She said seeing him standing in front of her in the darkness.

Gaara said nothing as he stepped towards her placing his hand on the wall beside her forcing her into the window. As she felt the ledge of the windowsill against her legs she stopped pressing her hands against the wall behind her. He gently ran a finger across her cheek and slipped his hand into her hair toying with a strand of it between his fingers. Kami blinked and just looked at Gaara, blushing, was this even the same Gaara?

"I like your hair this length. Don't cut it off." He said.

"Uh…yeah…of course not." Kami said taken off guard.

"I'm sorry I didn't do this sooner. I had some things to take care of first." He said leaning into her and placing his lips against hers.

She blushed as the kiss took her breath away but she slipped her arms around his neck and her hands into his hair kissing him back. Her chest felt like hot lava boiling, running through her body. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him pressing her body against his as their lips moved together perfectly. Pressing her against the window he ran a hand down her waist untying the sash just under her bust. Almost instinctively in reaction Kami ran her hands down Gaara's chest and began to undo his robes dropping them to the floor.

Underneath his robes he had nothing on but his boxers and as she realized this she almost froze. Gaara looked at himself for a moment then back at her and just kissed her again working her kimono off over her head leaving her in only her bra and panties. Quickly he turned her around and pressed her against the window kissing her neck and shoulders as he worked her bra off, she was just glad no one was outside as her bare breasts were pressed against the window.

He traced the curves of her body with his hands as he continued kissing her neck and shoulders while he pressed her against the window harder. As he reached her panties he slowly pulled them down and dropped them to the ground. Kami could feel Gaara pressing himself against her just before she felt the fabric of his boxers fall to the floor. Reaching around her he massaged her breasts as he gently rubbed himself against her.

She moaned quietly placing one hand on the window and the other over Gaara's hand as it felt her breast. Her face was beat red and her heart was beating fast as he pressed against her gently penetrating her slowly. Her fingers slid across the window as she balled her fist and moaned a bit louder than before. Running his hands down her body to her hips he slowly began moving, thrusting in and out of her their breathing speeding up. Still holding onto her hips with one hand he slid his other hand up her back and across every part of her body he could reach before grabbing onto her arm and pulling out.

Gaara turned her around and lifted her up, pressing her against the wall and kissing her passionately as her legs wrapped around him. Carefully he moved her and laid her on the desk, kissing down her neck as he pressed himself inside her again thrusting hard and deep. Kami ran her hands across his chest then up over his shoulders moaning into his ear as her nails scratched his back. Running her nails up his back and she slid her fingers into his hair pulling his lips back down on hers and kissing him again, his warm body moving against hers faster and faster as her moans grew louder in the kiss. Even so she still grabbed a handful of his hair and forced her tongue into his mouth exploring it.

His tongue moved with hers together and in sync while his hand slid down her smooth leg pulling it up and around him more allowing him to press deeper hitting her perfect spot. Moan after moan escaped her lips into his ears as she broke the kiss heat burning in her face and heart. Gaara gripped the ledge of his desk with the hand he hadn't placed on her leg as he kept his pace thrusting into her. Kissing her neck and sucking on it to leave a distinct mark Gaara could feel himself getting closer, he was on the brink.

Kami wrapped her arms around him tighter he nails running across his back once more as her hips moved against his. Both of them were close and Gaara's one last thrust into her as he moaned quite loudly in her ear sent them both over the edge. For a few moments they both just lay there catching their breath Gaara shaking slightly as he leaned over Kami. While Kami looked up at him she couldn't help the words that escaped her mouth.

"I love you Gaara…" She said then bit her tongue and turned her face away. Maybe it was too soon for that.

He grinned and chuckled quietly, something no one had ever seen, before placing his fingertips on her chin and turning her face back to look him in the eyes. "I love you too Kami." He said before kissing her again. Gently he lifted her and placed her on the floor before lying down beside her exhausted. "You can stay with me tonight." He said.

"Of course." Kami agreed kissing him again.

"Thank you." He said looking into her eyes.

"For what?" She asked confused.

"For everything. It was you who made me finally realize that the emotions I feel are ones that can be shared with other people, with you." He said placing a hand on her face.

Kami smiled and kissed Gaara again before standing up and slipping her kimono on. "What do you say we head in for the night?" she asked.

"Sounds…fantastic." Gaara agreed sliding his robes on and opening the door a crack to peak outside. "No one is here."

"Well then let' hurry before they catch us." Kami teased looking at Gaara with a big smile.

Quickly they made their way to Gaara's bedroom and closed the door behind them. As Kami stripped once more dropping her kimono onto the floor Gaara took her in his arms and dropped the two of them onto the bed kissing her again. Round 2, they both thought as Kami straddled him and kissed down his chest.

Kami rolled over the next morning and realized that she didn't have anywhere to roll to. Opening her eyes she saw Gaara lying there looking at her. She screamed and jumped back falling off the bed; she definitely wasn't used to waking up to Gaara yet.

"Are you alright?" He asked grinning.

"Oh…yeah I'm fine." She said standing up a little embarrassed and rubbing her head. "Just not used to this whole thing yet."

Just as Gaara was supposed to speak there was a knock on his door. "Gaara, are you alright? It's a bit late for you to be getting up. Are you in there?" Kankuro asked knocking again.

Kami's mouth dropped open and she looked at Gaara in shock. "What do I do?" she mouthed.

"Get in bed?" Gaara said looking her standing there naked. "I am fine." Gaara said to Kankuro.

Quickly Kami jumped in bed and covered herself up. "Just make him leave, would you?" she said blushing.

Gaara kissed her and quickly got dressed. "I'll have to get to work, but I'll see you later." He said exiting the room only to be talked at by Kankuro, yes talked at.

"Hitomi so you'll never…"Kami began as she walked into their bedroom.

"You had sex didn't you?" Hitomi said floating cross legged in the air, her eyes closed.

"Wha- how did you know?" Kami asked confused.

"These eyes don't just see chakra networks, they see everything." Hitomi said opening her eyes. "I was curious as to how things were going once you left so I mistakenly took a look through the walls. Bad idea I guess."

"Oh…" Kami said blushing. "

"Besides just look at you. The hair, the clothes, that look on your face, the glowing skin. You'd have to be blind to not see what happened." Hitomi said. "I gotta say it's a bit unfair. You and Gaara are the youngest of everyone. Younger than me, Temari, Kankuro, everyone and look at you."

"Well I guess anything is possible as long as you're persistent huh?" Kami asked smiling, but stopped as she heard Kankuro's voice.

"What the hell? What do you mean you don't know?!" Kankuro yelled. "There is just a random body print on your window, and clearly there are breast imprints…" Kankuro noticed and stopped. By now Kami had hauled ass to get up to Gaara's office. "They're kind of nice looking too." Kankuro said as Kami burst through the door to see Kankuro examining the body print.

"Ew get out you pervert!" Kami yelled knocking him aside and covering the window with her body.

Kankuro just glared at her for a second before gasping. "No! That's so gross! You two didn't…"

"Wow…" Kami said rubbing her head, Kankuro sure was slow about these things. "Just get out." Kami ordered.

"God damn it Kami quit bossing me around." Kankuro said annoyed.

"Get out!" Kami screamed flames burning in her eyes.

Quickly Kankuro stood up and ran out the door to Gaara's office running into Temari. "Woah, don't go in there Temari, she'll kill you." Kankuro said running off.

Temari just blinked and stepped into Gaara's office seeing Kami in front of the window. "What was Kankuro talking about?" She asked confused.

"Get out!" Kami screamed again making Temari freeze in her tracks and walk backwards out of the room like she had never entered. Kami sighed as she closed the door to his office. "I guess we better clean up in here before we let other people in." she said putting emphasis on the word before.

Chapter 22

"What?!" Hitomi yelled smashing her hands on the table. "The Akatsuki, a threat to the leaf?!" About a month had passed since Gaara had returned and Kami and Hitomi still hadn't left the village in search of anymore of Kami's past.

"Calm down, please." Gaara said. "The Hokage is sending all her available shinobi to deal with the situation. You needn't worry yourself."

"Gaara have you forgotten that I am still a leaf shinobi! I should be helping them, not sitting around here being useless!" Hitomi yelled before finally calming down. "Please. Gaara, that's my home, the people I love live there."

Gaara sighed. "All I know is that the Hokage is sending all available shinobi to deal with them, and that she refuses to let the Akatsuki leave the land of fire. I don't really know much about the situation." Gaara explained.

"Well then. I need to get going. They could be in trouble." Hitomi said.

"Not so fast, she asked that I don't let any shinobi leave the village, she doesn't want any allies getting in the way by accident." Gaara said.

"Look, I'm a leaf shinobi, not some sand shinobi you can boss around. I shouldn't be sitting around here doing nothing I should be one of the ninja that Lady Hokage has searching for the Akatsuki. I'm sorry, but you can't make me stay Gaara." Hitomi said.

"Very well, go on then." Gaara said waving her off and shaking his head.

She nodded and placed her fist across her chest dashing off quickly, heading straight for the leaf village. It was three days to get to the leaf village but if she used her gravitational jutsu to push in the opposite direction on her feet she could travel twice as fast meaning she could make it in a day and a half to two days, cutting a day off the schedule would be greatly beneficial. Tsunade probably already sent the Shinobi out meaning they might run into the Akatsuki a day before she did, but all that mattered was getting there at all.

Dashing through the woods at double speed she was quickly getting exhausted, she was using so much chakra, and after nearly a full day's travel she landed on the branch of a tree and leaned against the trunk. Shikamaru could be in trouble, the leaf village and all the people she cared about, but she would be no use if she kept pushing herself like this. Slowly she slid down the trunk of the tree and fell to her butt, breathing heavily. Closing her eyes she decided her best bet would be to get some rest for the night.

Yawning as she woke the next morning she quickly realized what she had come to do. Fixing her hair quickly she stood up and began running towards the village again before stopping in her tracks. She sensed something, nearby she felt a familiar presence, along with a few very powerful auras. Easily she slipped into her chakra vision and searched through the trees just as she heard a voice.

"Asuma!" the familiar voice screamed. "Asuma!"

She jolted to her feet. That voice, it was Shikamaru's. Asuma that was his new sensei after Kami and Hitomi had left, but more than that Asuma was Shikamaru's friend. After Hitomi had left no one had been closer to Shikamaru than Asuma. The way Shikamaru yelled Asuma's name could only mean one thing, they were in trouble. She knew then that she couldn't let herself rest any longer. Quickly she raced towards the scream trying looking through the trees with her vision; she had to have missed a large portion of the fight with the way things looked.

She jumped through the trees until she could see them all clearly, four of them. Asuma on the ground not moving, Shikamaru and another jounin trapped on the ground and a final jounin being strangled by one of the Akatsuki. Suddenly crows flew out of nowhere and when they dispersed Shikamaru and Asuma were gone leaving the two Akatsuki members standing alone with the two jounin and leaf reinforcements. She quickly looked around for Asuma and Shikamaru and found them on the roof with Ino and Choji.

Just as she began to step out from the trees the Akatsuki suddenly retreated. Looking up at the roof, the look on Ino's face gave away Hitomi's fears, and everyone else's fears. She knew there was no saving Asuma, and seeing Shikamaru's expression only broke Hitomi's heart even more. She couldn't bring herself to meet them on the roof, she couldn't bring herself to walk out into view, she felt awful, not being there to save Asuma or to help Shikamaru, he looked so exhausted like he could barely stand. Sanding idly by listening to what Asuma was telling his teammates she couldn't help but cry as well. Even if she didn't know Asuma very well he was still a leaf shinobi, and a jounin at that, his loss…would be great.

"Ino, Choji, Shikamaru…I have something I want to tell you three." Asuma said as he lay there, his heartbeat faint, his words quiet.

"Asuma sensei just don't speak!" Choji exclaimed as Ino attempted medical ninjutsu.

"Choji no…Ino you too…listen closely to Asuma sensei's words, his last words to us." Shikamaru said.

"Ino…you're bossy but you can also be…a compassionate caregiver. Choji and Shikamaru, they're both so awkward and clumsy, watch over them, and make sure that you don't ever lose to Sakura. Not in ninjutsu, or in romance." Asuma said.

"I won't…" Ino said dropping her head and closing her eyes as tears ran down her cheeks.

"And Choji, you're a thoughtful loyal friends and a kind soul. In time you'll become a stronger shinobi than anyone else, so be more confident in yourself. And another thing…you might consider losing a few pounds." Asuma said grinning ever so slighting.

"I don't know if it's possible but I'll try to." Choji agreed covering his eyes and wiping them as the tears rolled.

"And finally, Shikamaru. With your razor sharp intellect you have the instincts of a great shinobi; you are truly worth of becoming Hokage, though you'll try avoiding it…" Asuma said turning his head and coughing. "Since you'd find the job such a drag. All those games of shoji and not once could I beat you, which reminds me, remember when we talked about the king?" Asuma asked and Shikamaru looked down at Asuma as he remembered that day.

"If I were picking pieces to represent shinobi, you know what; I'd say you were most like the knight." Asuma had said smiling. "It's not the most powerful piece on the board but it can leap over any of the others, it's a unique ability. It reminds me of how flexible your mind is."

"Okay…" Shikamaru said a little confused. "Which one are you?"

"Me? Oh I'm nothing, I'm just…" Asuma said placing a piece on the table.

"A sacrificial pawn huh?" Shikamaru said grinning as he flicked the piece off the board with his own.

"Do you know which one the king is?" Asuma asked.

"Uh…well the Hokage right?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah…that's what I used to think to." Asuma said. "But it's not the case."

"Then who is it?" Shikamaru asked.

"You'll know the answer when the time comes." Asuma had explained looking down at the board.

Shikamaru looked down at Asuma as his quick flashback ended and shook his head.

"Now I'm going to tell you who the king is…lean closer." Asuma said.

Shikamaru leaned into Asuma placing his ear by Asuma's lips to hear his words, and as Asuma explained Shikamaru's eyes widened and he gasped. "Asuma…so then that's why you…"

"I'm counting on you…Shikamaru…" Asuma said closing his eyes. "Can you do me a favor? It's important. Could you look after Kurenai for me? You know why."

Shikamaru just looked down at Asuma and remembered the moment when Asuma first introduced shoji to him back when Hitomi was still around…Hitomi…he used to play shoji with her all the time as well. It had been three years since he'd seen her but she still crossed his mind now and then. As Asuma finally faded and rested it began to rain. Shikamaru stood and walked to the edge of the roof facing Hitomi who was still in the trees, but he didn't see her.

"Asuma sensei…you were always there for us…" Shikamaru said gripping Asuma's lighter tightly as he let out a few short sobs trying to hold back his tears. "I can't believe he's gone…he taught me everything I know…" Shikamaru said.

As Hitomi watched the tears roll down Shikamaru's face she couldn't help but cry as well. Wiping the tears from her eyes she turned around and took a few steps back towards the village. She just couldn't bring herself to step out and see any of them. She felt terrible for leaving Shikamaru there in the rain to cry, but it wasn't her place, not yet. Clenching her fists she dashing off back to the village.

Quietly she walked through the entrance to the village only she wasn't greeted by the typical shinobi; no they were back with Asuma. The two shinobi at the door weren't even sure who she was, they were just some new grade chunin who had come along after she left. She waved and entered the village, pulling her hair down and slipping on her cloak along with tossing the hood up. She wasn't ready for a warm welcome back after three years from anyone, not after what she had just witnessed. She felt gross, she had just watched something extremely personal and she felt she needed to wash her sins from herself.

The rain began to pour harder and harder as she walked to her home hoping her parents wouldn't notice she returned. Quietly opening the door to her house and stepping inside she tossed her hood off and headed up to her bedroom safely missing her parents, but leaving a note in the kitchen so they hadn't thought someone had broken in.

Tossing her cloak off and hanging it on the door she changed out of her clothes and found something dry to wear, some netting and a red kimono type outfit with some black shorts to put underneath, something she had from back when she left. Luckily they fit decently, the chest was a bit tight and she had to keep it unzipped at the top but the netting covered her breasts just fine, and the kimono was a bit shorter but the shorts did the job.

Once she got out of the shower she sat by her window waiting to see Shikamaru return, but she realized she didn't know what she would do if she saw him. Suddenly she saw the light flip on in his room and she nearly fell out of her chair trying to move out of view and get into her bed. Holding her chest as she tried to catch her breath after being startled she decided it would just be best if she went to bed for the night.

The next day she woke up and changed back into her regular clothes and tossed her hair back up, pinning it perfectly. Looking out her window she saw that Shikamaru was already gone, she sighed as someone knocked on her door.

"Dear, if you're in there…Asuma…" He mom trailed off.

"Yes I know mother. Are they having the ceremony soon?" she asked as she finished her hair.

"Yes, I just received word. If you're attending it will be at noon." Her mother said. "And I've made you some breakfast if you like." She continued.

Hitomi smiled as she heard her mother walk down the stairs. Three years and both of them just acted like it was a normal day. Hitomi hadn't given them a hello, a hug, and her mother and father hadn't asked for one. They really didn't like the fact that she was a ninja, and they certainly wouldn't approve of her choice on clothing attire. She grinning and grabbed her cloak off the door, it was still a bit wet but she could let it dry while she ate.

Quickly she ate her breakfast and grabbed her cloak heading out for the ceremony. She still wasn't prepared for anyone, especially Tsunade, to know she had returned so she kept her black cloak covering her and her hood up standing in the back of the crowd. Looking around she soon realized that Shikamaru wasn't there, why would Shikamaru not come to Asuma's ceremony?

"Shikamaru…?" Hitomi asked floating over to his room later that night and ducking through his window which he had left open. It was the middle of the night now and Shikamaru had spent the entire day sitting in the same spot, not moving not eating and not talking. He hadn't spoken a single word besides telling his mother he wasn't hungry for dinner.

That voice he thought. He turned his head to see her. "Hitomi?" he asked surprised standing to greet her. "Is that…is it really you? After all this time have you finally come back?"

"Yes." She said walking up next to him. "I'm sorry I waited for so many years…I…I know what happened. Shikamaru you did everything you could…"

"Just what are you getting at coming over here?" He asked angrily.

"Only the truth Shikamaru. I wasn't there during the fight, but I saw the aftermath, and I know you almost as well as Asuma. I know you did everything you could, but sometimes there are things that you can change. Asuma was a good man, but now he's gone but you're here to take his place Shikamaru." Hitomi said.

"Will you just shut your mouth?! All this talking is making me sick!" Shikamaru yelled glaring at her. "Saw what you want, I'm still nothing but a useless coward!" he yelled holding his hand up as if he was ready to slap her.

"You're wrong!" Hitomi said fiercely tossing his hand aside.

"Leaving for three years and you think you can just waltz in here and tell me who I am and what I'm not? Just what do you want from me?!" He yelled taking a fierce position with her.

Hitomi glared at him and her nostrils flared up as she stepped close to him getting in his face and pressed her foot down firmly. Taking a deep breath she spoke, "Let it out Shikamaru." She said soflty. He gasped and took a step back from her looking at the ground not wanting to meet her fierce, strong gaze. "All of the anger, the sadness, and the fear, everything that's brewing inside of you, you've got to let it go." She said

He closed his eyes and balled his hands into fists tightly as he gritted his teeth. He let out a few quiet gasps and she knew she had him finally. First just a few tears ran down his cheeks but quickly they started flowing fast as he collapsed to his knees placing his hands on the ground to hold himself up. He was sobbing, screaming to her asking why, why it had to happen. His tears fell to the floor as he closed his hands making fists one again. He didn't want her to see him like this, but he couldn't hold it in, he couldn't stop himself, the truth was he needed her more right now than ever. Watching him cry tears started rolling down her face as well and she knelt in front of him and placing her hands on his shoulders. She pulled him close wrapping her arms around him tightly pulling his head onto her shoulder letting him sob and scream into her chest. Hearing him cry like this, hearing his pain she couldn't help herself but just continue to cry silently along with him. His arms wrapped around her tightly making fists in her scarf and burying his face in her shoulder covering his screams as his tears fell down onto her clothes.

Softly she ran her fingers through his hair trying to calm him while shushing him trying to control his screams. "Shikamaru, I will always be here for you no matter what. I don't care how far away I am or how important of a mission I might be on; if you need me I will always, always come. I'm sorry I couldn't have been there for you when it happened, but I'm here now Shikamaru, I'm going to stay right here with you for as long as you need me understand?" Hitomi asked looking down at him.

He looked up at her his screams finally quieting down to just sobs as he gasped for breath the tears still flowing down his face. He had never been happier to hear her voice. How had it become such a soothing sound since the last time he'd seen her? It had been so long since he had seen her and it was like they had just been lying in the grass admiring the camellias yesterday. No words could express his feelings, so instead he took her hand in his and held it tightly laying his head back on her shoulder to cry. Slowly she lay him down on the floor lying next to him and holding him close stroking his hair again as he began to calm down, he had to have been exhausted.

Eventually she fell asleep with him not wanting to leave his side, and when she woke in the morning he was gone with a game of shoji set up as a strategy. She looked at it for only a moment before getting up and running off to find him. She knew what he was doing, he was going to go find the Akatsuki and take them down, but she knew that he had already realized he couldn't do it alone, and there was no way he was going to choose any other team than Ino and Choji, after all the three of them had been Asuma's team. She didn't have time to figure out all the details she just knew she needed to find him, and her first stop was Choji's house.

Quickly she learned that Shika had already stopped by both Choji and Ino's but had already left. That left one place before he would leave, he would surely visit Asuma's stone. She ran there quickly and saw him sitting there with Choji and Ino, flowers decorating Asuma's stone everywhere. Hitomi just smiled and walked up to them slowly.

"Shikamaru…Choji…Ino…if I may. Let me go with you." Hitomi said.

Shikamaru looked up at her and smiled. Looking over to Ino and Choji who were leaving the decision up to him he decided. "I wouldn't have it any other way." He said.

That night they went to set out when Tsunade showed up. "Hold it! Where do you think you're going?!" she yelled.

"Your mission directive still stands right? I've just assembled a new team. We're going on with the mission." Shikamaru said.

"Not without my approval you aren't!" Tsunade yelled. "Shikamaru you will be assigned to a troop of my choosing and only when we have a solid plan of attack in place!" Tsunade argued.

"Look, just send us some reinforcements. We have already worked out our own strategy." Shikamaru continued.

"That's enough! Asuma is gone, there is only thee of you!" Tsunade raged.

"Wrong, we have a fourth member." Shikamaru said grinning as Hitomi became visible to Tsunade. "Besides, Asuma is still with is."

"Hitomi?! When did you…What? You want revenge then? This isn't like you at all! Have you lost your minds?!" Tsunade snarled.

"No, we aren't stupid, we have no intention of running straight to our deaths believe me, it's just…we don't want to go on living without fulfilling our duty." Shikamaru said opening and lighting Asuma's lighter. "We don't want to go on without meaning. That's why we're going." Shikamaru explained.

"Get over your selves, all shinobi must walk in the shadows; ninja die all the time, some deaths will be harder to accept than others, but unless you can get past that there can be no future!

"Carrying this lighter around…it's almost like…Asuma's still close by." Shikamaru said looking at the lighter. "Like he's watching over us, I really feel that. Until I've closed the book on this thing, his lighter will stay with me."

"Face reality, a real squad needs…" Tsunade began.

"A real squad needs a proper jounin along for the ride?" Kakashi said in the distance.

"Kakashi sensei!" They all exclaimed.

"They're going to go no matter what, I figured I could tag along and make sure they don't do anything stupid or go overboard. Send me along and I can keep an eye on them." He said assuring Tsunade of their safety. Tsunade sighed but finally agreed.

"Alright! Thanks Kakashi, we owe you one." Shikamaru said.

After running off into the woods a decent distance Kakashi stopped them. "Alright Shikamaru, what's this plan of yours?"

"Actually I'd like to tweak it a little now that you're with us Kakashi sensei. I'll break it down into pieces with all the variations, so listen carefully. Memorize it." Shikamaru said.

After explaining the new strategy they all nodded nodded explaining how they understood and Shikamaru handed Kakashi a small empty vile. Kakashi was impressed with how much Shikamaru had learned from the enemy with only one encounter, but that was just the way Shikamaru did things. Shikamaru ordered them all to run through the plan mentally three times and grasped his lighter tightly. They were all ready to leave except for Hitomi; she really just wanted to speak privately with Shikamaru. They hadn't had any time to catch up before they went off onto another mission, but she let it slide this time as they all ran off to the collection office to attempt to pick up any tracks.

Chapter 23

"Well…they said they would come back but you don't really think they would be stupid enough to return back to the same place that we last fought them do you?" Choji asked.

"No, I suspect they'll take another route but their destination will be the same. Whether they're after the bounty on Asuma or the jinchuuriki inside Naruto their target is still the leaf." Shikamaru said.

"There are many routes to the leaf village, that's a lot of territory to cover. How do we find them?" Kakashi asked.

"That's how, up there, Ino." Shika said catching a hawk in his eyesight.

"Right." Ino said "Mind transfer Jutsu!" They all sat waiting for Ino to wake back up with news when suddenly she jolted up. "There, they're taking a different route just as we thought!" she said pointing. "If we head northwest we will run into them. It'll only take about ten minutes. I don't think they spotted me."

"Good going Ino." Shikamaru said helping her up. Hitomi scrunched her nose feeling worthless now.

"Alright, then we move." Kakashi said heading off towards where they would meet the Akatsuki.

"There" Hitomi whispered once they saw the Akatsuki pointing them out. "Are you sure Shikamaru? Ready?"

"It's now or never." He said grinning. "Shadow possession."

Of course the Akatsuki noticed his shadow possession; however it was all part of the plan. They jumped and dodged the first attack, as expected so Hitomi stood by watching, waiting in case her gravitational jutsu was needed. Ino and Choji threw their kunais with paper bombs as a distraction while Shikamaru jumped to a tree hanging above the two Akatsuki readying his chakra blades. As the Akatsuki focused their attention on the ground Shika threw his two chakra blades missing both Akatsuki but, hitting their shadows, perfectly according to plan.

"Shadow possession shuriken jutsu, achieved." He said jumping down from the trees and landing in front of both enemies." You see, what I threw at you were chakra blades, not only do they absorb the chakra nature of whoever wields them, they complement and augment his jutsu. In short, having absorbed the user's chakra the chakra blades become an extension of his jutsu. You see, I wasn't trying to hit you I was aiming for your shadows the whole time, it's Asuma's gift to you, a little memento to remember him by." He said

"So these paper bombs are fake." The big Akatsuki realized. "Just ordinary pieces of paper, the first set of paper bombs on kunai knives were meant to mislead us, to make sure that we would try and elude the second set attached to chakra blades. You then distracted us again by drawing our attention to the ground with that shadow play so we wouldn't notice the attack from above, until the last minute. By allowing us no time to think you were able to pierce our shadows and paralyze us."

"Alright then, it's time to finish this. By my calculations it's all over for you two right now." Shikamaru said using his actual shadow possession to overtake the so called immortal Akatsuki and force him backwards to pick up his own weapon. "I wouldn't want to mess up our order of attack again. This time I'm going to see to it that we finish this once and for all."

He ran towards the other Akatsuki swinging his arms making the partner Akatsuki, Hidan was his name, attack Kakazu the other Akatsuki, but at the last moment Kakazu ducked and his arm exploded from the ground removing the chakra blade from his shadow, his arm was functioning independently from his body.

"I guess it's not quite all over yet is it? As you can see my abilities are countless, you would be wise to retreat and plan your next move. That is if you're smart unlike my partner here. Just remember, all the battle plans you make mean nothing when the situation on the ground doesn't go as calculated." Kakazu said pulling his arm back into his body.

Hidan laughed then a moment later stopped. "Huh?! Kakazu what did you mean unlike my partner here?!" Hidan yelled.

"Just what I said you idiot." Kakazu answered.

Shikamaru looked frustrated but began racing towards Kakazu attacking him through Hidan once more until Kakazu was up against a tree. "Now Choji, now!" Hitomi yelled as Choji jumped down using his spiky boulder technique.

It seemed to have hit Kakazu, however they were misled, and when the smoke dispersed Kakazu was standing just fine; he had hardened his skin and made himself able to withstand the attack. Suddenly while all of them were distracted trying to figure out how to get past Kakazu's special jutsu Kakashi attacked him from behind with his lightning blade.

"Hey, what's going on? What's all that stuff you always said about physical attacks being useless against you?" Hidan asked.

"Yeah, how did you get behind that guy anyway Kakashi sensei?" Shikamaru asked.

"I saw everything, from the signs you were weaving it looks like an earth style justsu, isn't it? Too bad earth is inferior to lighting, not your lucky day. Looks like you're done for." Kakashi said removing his hand from Kakazu's chest and watching Kakazu fall to the ground.

"And we wanted to get rid of the mortal one first, less trouble this way." Shikamaru said groaning in exhausting. "Uh oh…not looking good. Kakashi sensei!" Shikamaru yelled and Hitomi realized he was at his limit with his shadow possession.

As Kakashi headed towards Hidan to attack, Kakazu came out of nowhere and kicked him forcefully into a tree. They all watched as suddenly Kakazu removed his cloak and revealed…masks on his back, and his entire body was tied together like a doll. All of them watched as the masks ripped from Kakazu's body and four black things best described as demons emerged. One of them melted into a black puddle, the one that Kakashi had hit with his lightning blade. Ino and Hitomi stood by watching and waiting for a signal to make their move as Shikamaru's shadow possession finally wore off.

"Kakazu! You put on this big show and then one of them keels over before we even get started? Come on that's pretty lame if you ask me!" Hidan yelled annoyed.

Hidan attacked running after Kakashi, the both of them however were blasted when one of the demons used a wind style justsu tossing everyone backwards and into trees, after all Hidan was immortal somehow so it seemed like Kakazu was taking advantage of that fact. Just then Ino gasped as another demon began creating some type of lighting style jutsu. Shikamaru had some type of protection scroll but he wasn't moving fast enough and both girls realized this.

"Choji, Shikamaru, run!" Ino yelled running after them.

Hitomi reacted instantly and jumped in front of the three of them just as the lighting blasted towards them. Shikamaru hadn't unrolled the scroll fast enough and they were about to be blasted into next month.

"Protection Wall!" Hitomi yelled tossing her hands up and making a gravitational barrier forcing the lighting jutsu away from all of them. She felt something then, something different. Her chakra was draining but at the same time she was feeling regenerated, was she finally starting to get the hang of that chakra absorption?

Choji, Ino and Shikamaru all gasped amazed not only at how powerful Hitomi's jutsu was but the fact that she risked her life by jumping in front of them like that. The blast went on for what seemed like forever and it was using such force that it was taking nearly twice as much chakra to keep her barrier up, but she had plenty left to spare by the time it was over, normally she would've been nearly drained after that attacks strength but she must've absorbed some of its chakra. When the blast finally ended she stood still breathing heavily, she may still have a decent amount of chakra left but it was still a lot of physical strain on her to keep a jutsu like that up.

"Hitomi are you alright?" Kakashi asked landing beside her.

"Just fine, I'm still standing after all." She answered.

"That was quite impressive; you're the first one who's ever survived that little display I think." Hidan said walking up next to Kakazu while Kakashi dropped down next to Hitomi. "Wait a minute…those eyes." Hidan realized. "Kakazu…"

"It's of no importance, there's no way her abilities match his. So, absorbed the jutsu this time, but what about this next one?" Kakazu asked as one of his other demons stepped forward. "Fire style searing migraine" and before anyone could react Hitomi yelled.

"Get back!" Hitomi yelled performing her hand signals and placing another barrier around them to attempt to protect them from the blast. She was impressed with herself and how quickly she was able to produce another barrier, something was different in her. She thought for sure this jutsu would break through her defenses, but it didn't, she really was finally beginning to understand the chakra absorption.

Once the blast ended they all jumped away in different directions and hid themselves in the after smoke, well except for Kakashi, Hidan chased him into the air where they dueled, Kakashi using his sharingan. Quickly the five of them regrouped once Kakashi had gotten Hidan off his back. Hitomi was exhausted from making two barriers like that, the attacks had such force, she wouldn't be able to do it again unless she rested up, well she thought…normally she wouldn't have been able. It still took a large physical and mental toll on her even if she did have the chakra to spare.

"I don't understand, you hit him dead on with that lightning blade…" Choji said.

"Right, but remember how that monster died only shortly after being released from his body? It seems that that monster died in Kakazu's place." Hitomi explained.

"Exactly." Kakashi reinforced.

"Exactly, just look at the way he dodged my shadow possession shuriken. He detached his arm, with what looked like a beating heart, and it was moving all on its own. Best guess, those dark figures, not to mention the big guy himself, all have separate hearts but they all belong to him." Shikamaru said.

"How is that even possible?" Ino asked surprised.

"Wait…so you mean in order to take him down for good we have to destroy all five of them?" Choji asked.

"Yep, and we already took one down thanks to Kakashi, but it's not just the three demons and the guy himself, we also have that loudmouth to deal with." Shikamaru reminded everyone.

"You're right once again, you see each of my hearts were taken from shinobi I fought and battle and got the better of, they can easily be replaced, with your hearts for example." Kakazu said.

"I see, so that's how he can use so many different chakra natures, he taps into the hearts of the shinobi he killed." Kakashi realized.

"I hope you guys didn't bury that old-timer, it's going to be such a hassle to dig him up. But seriously that guy with the beard went down like it was nothing, what's the fun in that?" Hidan asked.

"Although he did take you down a peg or two didn't he?" Kakazu said.

"Shut up! Just butt out!" Hidan yelled. "Seriously though, with a guy like that leading you what is there to gain?"

"What did you say?" Choji growled.

"Oh you're not all bent out of shape are you hmmm fatso?" Hidan asked.

"Raaaaah!" Choji yelled running as fast as he could at Hidan.

"Choji no stop!" Shikamaru yelled using shadow possession just in time to keep Hidan from hitting Choji with his scythe. "You dumb idiot!"

Luckily Kakashi countered Hidan's second attack on Choji causing Hidan to get distracted and chase Kakashi; however Kakazu appeared and easily tossed Choji into a tree embedding him into it. They all held their breath hoping Choji was alright along with Kakashi who was being attacked one hit after another with all three remaining demons and Hidan, but Choji was the easiest one to protect at the moment.

As Kakazu pulled Choji from the tree Ino tossed a kunai for distraction as Shikamaru attempted his shadow possess him. Kakazu jumped back dodging which is where Hitomi had her chance to make her mark on the battle. She pulled Kakazu to the ground hard, but right before Shikamaru's shadow stitching got him, the lighting demon flew down from the sky.

Shikamaru was able to jump out of the way before the attack hit him but he lost his focus on his shadow jutsu leaving Kakazu able to toss both his arms out and choke Choji and Ino. Hitomi tried to help but the lighting demon was now attacking her as well and she couldn't afford to waste more valuable energy and chakra trying to make a barrier so instead she ran from it alongside Shikamaru trying to formulate a plan of some type.

"Hitomi distract that demon for a moment, I've got an idea." Shikamaru said.

"Got it." She said shaking her head.

She turned around and threw a kunai; something she knew would be ineffective but would draw the demons attention while Shikamaru threw a scroll on the ground. Stomping on it, it created a pool of water which flowed underneath Kakazu's feet, she saw what he was planning and without him even needing to tell her she jumped into the puddle of water and waited for an attack from the monster. Lighting flew from its mouth and as she jumped away the attack hit the water and traveled to Kakazu's feet electrifying him causing him to drop Ino and Choji. Hitomi picked Ino up and Shikamaru picked up Choji and they all hid behind a large tree momentarily where luckily Kakashi met them.

"Alright Shikamaru what's the plan?" Kakashi asked.

"First and foremost is to get them on their own. We have got to tackle them individually. Once their combo attacks are off the table, we can focus on destroying the big guys last four hearts." Shikamaru explained.

"Right but then someone needs to stall Hidan." Hitomi responded.

"I'll do it!" Ino said "Look out of all of us I have to most chakra left…"

"No!" Shika argued. "On your own you'll be too vulnerable. With your mind transfer you can't be sure you'll get a clear shot and if you miss you won't be in your body for several minutes, it's too risky. You're mind destruction needs to come after my shadow possession. No, I'll do it. I'll get him with possession and head off with him." Shikamaru said.

"Shikamaru?!" Hitomi exclaimed almost hurt.

"But how do you plan on trapping him. You'll need a diversion." Kakashi explained.

"Well I could take care of that part…" Choji began.

"No! It's too dangerous, if he gets a hold of anyone's DNA it's all over. The diversion, that'll be me, I've got this. The rest of you need to help Kakashi take down the big guy." Shikamaru said.

"Shikamaru if he gets your DNA it's all over for you just as much as it would be for the rest of us! You better not mess this plan up you hear, it was yours after all." Hitomi said.

"Just don't worry about me, focus on taking the other guy out. He has three demons left and himself, that's one demon or person for all of you. Just don't mess up, understood?" Shika said looking right at Hitomi.

"Alright, he's all yours then…just…come back okay…I couldn't live with myself if you died and I was able to prevent it you hear." Hitomi said

He nodded at her and took the vile he had originally given Kakashi. Placing it in his pocket he walked up towards Hidan and Kakazu. Standing still for only a moment he performed his hand movements faster than Hitomi or anyone else had ever seen him do before and threw his shadows at Hidan. Chasing Hidan from tree to tree he threw chakra blades with his shadow's attempting possession the same way as before, but nothing was working until Shikamaru appeared from around the tree and attempted a direct hit on Hidan, which was blocked, not that it mattered how he touched Hidan just that he did. By touching him their shadows touched and thus, the shadow possession complete as he landed on the ground.

"Get going Shika!" Hitomi called. "We're counting on you!"

"Right!" Shikamaru said making Hidan drop his weapon. "Come on pal, we're going for a little stroll." He said grinning before running off, Hidan mimicking his movements following him into the forest.

Hitomi stood by as Kakashi fought Kakazu, she didn't know if Shikamaru was alright, but she knew if he stuck to the plan, if he pulled it off this whole thing could be over soon enough. The fire and wind demons suddenly formed together distracting Hitomi from her train of thought, how was it possible? Fire and wind fused together flew from their mouths after Kakashi; his water walls weren't enough to stop them. She watched along with Ino and Choji not sure when and if to jump in. Then Kakazu threw his arm out landing it on Kakashi and overtaking him the moment Kakashi wasn't watching.

"Sensei!" Hitomi yelled. If Shikamaru didn't pull the plan off now it might be too late for Kakashi, but with Kakashi in the way there wasn't really anything she could do to help, her gravity jutsu would more than likely effect Kakashi as well.

Suddenly Kakazu grabbed his chest writhing in pain. "How…how is this possible?" Kakazu asked.

"Looks like he did it just in time; see that little ritual your partners, well this time he used your DNA for it." Kakashi explained shoving Kakazu off him and getting up.

"Wh-when did you…" Kakazu begged unable to move.

"When I struck you with my lightning blade." Kakashi explained looking down at Kakazu.

"That brat planned that far ahead?" Kakazu managed.

"That's what he does, looks like this time you underestimated your opponent." Hitomi said walking up to Kakashi with Ino and Choji. "Shikamaru might be lazy sometimes but he is a genius, and you couldn't possibly imagine the pain he felt after what you two did to Asuma Sensei, you had this coming."

By the time she finished talking Kakazu was already dead, and Kakashi had yanked out the weird tentacle things, that were trying to absorb his heart. They all thought it was over until they realized they had the last three, well now two demons, but three hearts.

"Expansion Justu!" Choji yelled making himself into a giant and smashing the last two demons into the ground, only for it not to work.

The lightning demon rushed past the group and made its way into Kakazu's body using its heart to reanimate Kakazu, and then both wind and fire monsters combined with Kakazu's body as well.

"What's happening?" Hitomi asked.

"His primary body is becoming a monster too!" Kakashi exclaimed.

"This hasn't happened to me in a while." Kakazu said grinning.

Just then everyone found themselves unable to move trapped in the vines coming from Kakazu's body. Hitomi tried to find a way to escape when she realized that both fire and wind masks had reappeared. Watching as the opened their mouths she attempted to make a barrier, but before she got it off she saw the fire and wind mix flying at the lot of them and suddenly…

"Wind style rasengun!" someone yelled.

"Water style ripping torrent." Another voice followed.

"Hurricane vortex jutsu!" the both voices said simultaneously as this amazing ability appeared and counteracted the fire and wind jutsu mix.

"Team Kakashi!" Hitomi yelled being released from the odd vines. Reinforcements had finally arrived.

"Better late than never right?" Naruto said tossing his head.

"I've never seen you so beat up Kakashi Sensei." Sakura said.

"Heh, just one of those days." Kakashi said lowering his head.

"He must be tough then if Kakashi Sensei is having trouble." Naruto said. "Alright where is Shikamaru?"

"He's fighting the other enemy by himself a little further away." Hitomi explained.

"Alright two of you head over and assist him, a long distance fighter and a medic. He's going to need you." Kakashi said.

Hitomi looked at Sakura and they both nodded. Finally Hitomi was going to get a chance to see how Shikamaru was handling; she only hoped he was alright. Kakashi summoned Pakkun then and Hitomi and Sakura ran off with him to find Shikamaru. When they finally found him he was walking out of a forest with a deer, and Hitomi could tell that he had just been crying, but she said nothing.

"Shikamaru, are you alright?" Hitomi asked.

"Heh, yeah I'm fine. Looks like you're all just a little late." Shikamaru answered.

"You mean?! You mean you defeated him on your own?!" Hitomi exclaimed "How?!"

"I just… I had a feeling this was something important I had to do on my own." He said grinning and holding Asuma's lighter tightly. "So what's going on with the others?"

"No idea, we made a B line here. We should get back to them they may need us." Sakura said.

He shook his head and the three of them along with Pakkun headed back. On their way Shikamaru began breathing heavily all of a sudden and then he collapsed, slide across the ground. Sakura and Hitomi both ran to his side instantly.

"Shikamaru! Are you alright?" Hitomi asked placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Here let me heal you." Sakura said.

"No, forget it, it's no big deal. It would be a total drag if I slowed us down while we have friends in danger!" Shika exclaimed. "Let's get going." He said standing up and dashing off again.

Hitomi followed close behind him in case he needed her or Sakura, it was a little odd traveling with Sakura, they hadn't spoken very much, but that didn't matter if her and team Kakashi were here to help that was all that mattered, same with Choji and Ino.

Chapter 24

They arrived back at the group, but the second Akatsuki member had already been handled with which Hitomi could tell left Shikamaru relieved. There had been too many close calls that day and she felt like she did nothing. They all made their way back to the leaf, but they took their time, between Kakashi, Naruto, and Shikamaru's exhaustion they were in no rush.

"Alright, Sakura, get Naruto to the hospital and as for the rest of you, take a few days off. You've all earned it, each and every one of you. Give your minds and body some rest." Tsunade said when they reported in.

"Shikamaru, I'm going to go to middle mist… just so know, the one we used to hang out at…I know you probably want some time alone, so I'll be there if you want to talk alright?" Hitomi told him once they were all outside the Hokage's mansion.

"You don't have to…" He began then looked back at Ino and Choji. "Yeah alright, wait for me there, we…we haven't had a chance to catch up yet." He said actually smiling before walking off to what was most likely Asuma's grave stone.

Hitomi went off in the other direction and made her way through the trees to the field. She lay down in the open field of flowers where she and Shika used find themselves watching the clouds or training together. Looking into the sky she had tears in her eyes imagining the good old days when things seemed so much simpler. She knew becoming a shinobi would be a lot of work and there would be a lot of hardship but she liked taking breaks. It had been three years since she'd been involved in anything fights like that and she wasn't really used to that.

"Asuma once compared me to a piece in a game of shoji. He said I was the knight, I had unique abilities like that piece, but then he asked me who I thought the king was." Shikamaru said walking out to the field and lying down beside Hitomi. "I had told him it was the Hokage, but when I said that he told me I was wrong. When I asked him who the king was then he just told me that I would know the answer when the time came. That day when Asuma died the last thing he told me was who his king was, it was the children, the children who hold the future of the village. He would've given anything to protect them and he did, he gave his life to protect this village, and I would do that same. When he told me that I realized why he sacrificed himself, it was for Kurenai, she was pregnant and that child was his king. I thought of a girl then as well, a girl who I spent most of our childhood torturing me and I used to ask myself each morning why me. Her voice used to make cringe and shiver wondering what she was going to do to me next, but over time I realized that…I didn't want to be without her. My life would have been so much different had she never been around, but I can't say I would have preferred it that way." Shikamaru said looking over at Hitomi.

"When she left back then I felt like, well I felt like I would've felt if suddenly I didn't have my shadow possession jutsu anymore." He continued. "I didn't know what to do with myself, I felt useless, but as I started spending more and more time with Asuma sensei he pushed me to keep going on with each day, reminding me how she had promised she would come back someday. I held onto the fact that as long I stayed alive, as long as I protected the village with all my strength someday she would return, and then I could protect her with all my strength, because that was all I really wanted was to be with her. Then one day, out of the blue, she did come back. She came back and she was there for me in my darkest hour, right when I needed her most, and I thought to myself, I finally had truly understood what Asuma was saying. Someday I would have a king or two of my own, and I guess I just started wondering who it would be that helped me protect that king, who would stand by my side with our children behind us. You know who I'm talking about don't you?" He asked sitting up and looking over at her.

"Well…" Hitomi said trailing off.

"It's you Hitomi. You're the one that I wanted to be with, the one who, even if it sounds ridiculous, I would gladly have by my side, and whom I would gladly protect. I guess I just…" he said trailing off.

"Shika…" Hitomi said looking into his eyes resulting in him looking away.

"Hitomi…I love you." He said looking up into the clouds.

She was speechless for a moment, and then leaned forward wrapping her arms around Shikamaru's neck and climbing over him to kiss him passionately while running her fingers through his hair and pulling it out knowing how much it annoyed him. This time he didn't care however, all he cared about was her and being with her, finally telling her how he felt. He wrapped his arms around her running his hands up her back and dropping down into the soft flowers beneath them, blushing as she lay on top of him.

"Shikamaru." She breathed breaking the kiss.

"Yes?" he asked tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"I love you too." She said kissing him again.

He pulled her hair tie and pulled her hair down as well, the long silky silver hair falling over the two of them. His hand easily slid into her hair and he grasped a chunk with one hand while the other slid down her waist to her hips and finally rested on her butt, trembling slightly. Clearly he was nervous and Hitomi realized this, neither of them had done something like this before.

She sat up and looked down at him for a moment. He said nothing, he just looked up at her blushing as she straddled him. She grinned and began unzipping his Chunin jacket and removed it placing her hands on his chest afterwards. He grabbed her hands and removed them from his chest then to pull her closer, less than inches from her face just looking into her eyes.

"Shika I…" Hitomi began.

"Shh. There is no need for anymore words. It's been too long since I've seen you, and I've waited too long to tell you these things to let this moment slip through my fingers." He said kissing her again and rolling over so he was leaning over her.

His warm soft lips moved from her lips to her chin and then down her neck kissing up and down in a line his hot breath trailing down her neck and ear. She blushed running her hands across his back breathing slightly heavier and moaning quietly in his ear. His hands trembled as his fingertips touched her bare skin while he slowly removed her clothes, sliding them off and tossing them all into a pile.

"Shika…touch me." She said taking his hand and placing it on her breast.

He massaged her breast still nervous, but he wanted this. She lifted his shirt along with his netted shirt underneath and removed them over his head causing them both to sit up on their knees. Sitting there Shikamaru was now just in pants and Hitomi was down to a bra and underwear. She tossed her arms around his shoulders and kissed him again running her hands up his back, across his neck, down his chest feeling all the indents of his muscles, then to his pants, first unbuttoning them, then unzipping, pulling them down and sliding them off.

Once the pants were off it was on, no stopping them now. He took her into his arms and kissed her again begging for access to her mouth, she permitted as he unclipped her bra one handed and tossed it to the side with all their other clothes. Pushing her back onto the ground he kissed down her neck to her collar bone massaging her breasts again.

Hitomi moaned in his ear and nibbled on it slightly getting a moan to escape his lips making him blush, but making her grin. She was curious to find more of his sweet spots so she pushed him off her and climbed on top of him pinning his arms above his head. She could feel his hard penis pressing against her through his boxers, so she moved her hips against him and kissed his neck sucking on it getting a few more quiet moans. His mind was going blank, he couldn't think of anything he could only live in the moment. He pulled his hands from her and placed them on her hips slipping his fingers under the sides of her panties toying with them.

Hitomi stood up removing her panties and pulled Shika's boxers off revealing his hardened member ready to take her. He looked away shy and nervous as she kissed him again and moved her lips down his chest and coming up to his shaft breathing down it and sliding her lips across it gently. Shika moaned softly placing his hand over his face not sure what to do with himself.

"Hitomi…don't….don't tease me anymore." Shikamaru said looking down at her through the gaps in his fingers.

She grinned and sat up onto her knees before climbing up to meet his eyes. His mind focused on nothing but the sex he grabbed her arms and placed her on the ground, on her back, running his hand down her hips to her waist and down her thigh pulling her leg up and around him as he pressed himself against her. He leaned over her his hair falling over his face as he pressed into her slowly feeling her legs wrap around him. As he pressed fully into her she grunted slightly turning her gaze away from him.

"Am I hurting you?" Shikamaru asked moving Hitomi's hair out of her face.

"No, no don't stop." She said running her fingers down his back making him shiver in pleasure.

He began thrusting slowly while kissing her neck and they both moaned while they moved together, her fingertips running across his back while his hand held her thigh allowing him to thrust deeper and harder. They kept at it moaning and breathing heavily, beads of sweat appearing on Shikamaru's chest. He kissed her again long and passionately the two of them exploring each other's mouths with their tongues, Hitomi still moaning into the kiss as Shikamaru continued thrusting in and out. She moaned so loudly it could almost be called a scream when Shikamaru finally finished, as he pressed so deeply into her holding onto her so tightly it sent her over the edge as well.

He leaned over her for a moment breathing heavily as he let go of her thigh and used both arms to hold himself up. When they finally finished and cleaned up they didn't bother to redress other than Hitomi putting her panties back on, the sun was setting and they decided to just lay there together watching it set in their own secret patch of flowers. He held her tightly as she had him when he needed her and they watched the sun set and he grinned.

"So I heard you rejected the feudal lords offer to be one of his personal guardians." Hitomi said.

"Yeah…" Shikamaru said.

"Why put so much effort into something like the chunin exams and then turn down an amaing offer like that from your superb work? Would it really be so bad?" Hitomi asked looking over at him.

"This is me we're talking about, I don't want the extra hassle and I probably never will. I just…how do I put it. With Choji and Ino here in the leaf, and now you, plus the guys in my new squad, I guess I'd rather just stay close to home in case one of you needs me." Shikamaru explained.

"I see…that's some will of fire you have huh?" Hitomi said sitting up.

"Yeah…I think Asuma mentioned that once too. An uncompromising desire to protect this village, but I don't really know if mine runs that deep." Shikamaru said.

"What are you shy? Don't be ridiculous, you worry about your friends so you want to protect them. I know what you mean." Hitomi continued looking down at him.

"We're all shinobi of the leaf, it's a drag but I'd feel this way whether I wanted to or not." Shikamaru said sitting up as well.

"Right…because that makes sense." Hitomi said smiling and looking over at him. "Shikamaru you use too much energy trying to pretend you don't care about everything. I think I'd venture as far as to say you loath showing any excitement or something once in a while. Everything isn't a drag is it?"

"Not everything, but most things. I think it's safe to say that most of my life, dealing with you even, just about everything was a drag. Once in a while however something happens that makes up for it." He said laying back down and putting his hands behind his head.

"Oh yeah? We'll I would hate to burden you since our sex was such a drag then, I'll just be going." Hitomi said getting up and gather her things quickly.

"Hey wait a minute." Shikamaru said getting up and grabbing her, turning her to face him. "Now you're being ridiculous." He said kissing her once more.

The next morning he sat up and yawned, back in his own bed. Stretching his arms he heard his alarm go off. He sighed, "_Great, what's the point of setting the alarm if I'm going to wake up before it goes off? What a total waste, now I've got to shut it off, but I don't feel like moving, but if I don't shut it off it'll just keep ringing and ringing. Ugh it makes me tired just thinking about the whole thing…some mornings are such a drag._" He thought to himself just sitting up in his bed.

Hitomi moaned and rolled over pulling the covers over her head. "Shika just shut it off, quite analyzing the pros and cons in your head. It's like two inches away from you." She said.

He looked down at her and smiled, that's right she had come home with him last night. Once he clicked the off button on the alarm that was on a nightstand, directly next to where his head would be if he had been lying down he lay down and wrapped his arms around her again, it was still pretty early and they had been up rather late.

"Someone still has their typical morning attitude." Shikamaru teased.

"No…I just didn't want that thing blasting my eardrums out at six in the morning." Hitomi argued.

"Yeah, typical attitude." Shikamaru affirmed.

"Hey now, give me a break." Hitomi said rolling over to see him. He kissed her and moved to get up. "Hey wait a minute, I wasn't done." She continued pulling him into another kiss and pulling him on top of her.

Once they finally got dressed and ready they headed out. It was a day off and neither of them knew what to do with the day. They started with a nice stroll around the village. It was quiet and relaxing, the two of them walking around, Shikamaru's arm around Hitomi's waist as they roamed from store to store.

"Hey, Hitomi!" Kiba yelled running up to them.

"Oh hey, Kiba…" Hitomi said quietly. Three years passed and his voice was just as annoying, and then she saw a white wolf panda? No it was Akamaru. "Is that…is that Akamaru?"

"Yeah it's Akamaru who else would it be?" Kiba asked.

"He's gigantic! He looks like a bear!" She yelled looking at Akamaru as he barked at her happily.

"Hey…wait a minute." Kiba said looking at Shikamaru's arm around Hitomi. "What's going on here?"

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked.

"I definitely would've thought you and Temari, with how much time you guys had been spending together." Kiba said.

Shikamaru's mouth dropped open, that was definitely what he wanted Hitomi to hear at the moment. "You idiot I had to do that! It was for the chunin exams, I had to escort her around the village!" Shikamaru said angrily.

Hitomi looked over at Shikamaru confused and a little hurt. "What…" she said.

"Thanks man." Shikamaru said sarcastically and sighed. "It's nothing Hitomi. She was spending a lot of time here for the chunin exams and Tsuande made me escort her around the village. It was a big fat drag but I had to do it. I don't want to get on the Hokage's bad side, she's worse than my mom."

Hitomi laughed. "Oh she's worse than your mom?" she asked. "I'm not sure what your mom is like but I know Tsunade and I know me too."

"Uh…" Shikamaru said a little frightened.

"Oh don't worry about it, Tsunade made you do it right?" Hitomi said smiling and taking Shikamaru's hand and dragging him towards the front gate.

"Hey wait a minute, I was going to ask if you knew anything about Rayne…" Kiba said.

"Nope sorry, why don't you quit being a baby and just go see her?" Hitomi asked running off with Shikamaru.

"Hey where are you taking me?" Shikamaru asked.

"To the training yard." Hitomi answered.

"Uh…what for?" Shikamaru asked confused.

"I told you to be ready for a fight when I got back right? Well I hope you're ready." Hitomi said smiling as they entered the raining grounds.

"Woah woah woah, I was not prepared for this." Shikamaru argued sliding to a halt, Hitomi standing before him.

"Well, get ready." Hitomi said holding her right hand up to her side. "No holding back, go full out. Time to show you what I'm really made of, I can do a lot more than just put up a barrier." She said as her samurai sword flew through the trees right into her hand. Quickly he pulled a kunai, he had a bad feeling about this. "Begin!" she yelled beginning to levitate in the air.

Shikamaru's mouth dropped open a little, he had no idea she was able to do that and he wondered what else she had up her sleeve. He threw several kunai at her but she blocked them easily with a small barrier, he was going to have to do better than that.

"_How do I fight her? This is such a drag, she used to beat me before and now she's only gotten better, I need a strategy._" Shikamaru thought jumping into the trees to hide himself and think.

"You'll have to do better than that." Hitomi said going into her chakra vision. "I could just rip down all the trees but I don't want to destroy a perfectly good forest, not just yet." She said finding him in the trees with his hands placed in his typical way when he was thinking. "There is no time to close your eyes Shikamaru. Forceful push!" she yelled sending a blast of energy in his direction.

He opened his eyes when he heard her yell but her attacks were too fast and it hit him tossing him back into a tree. He stood up and dashed off to the side quickly and threw a kunai at her. The kunai was attached to a thread which had several paper bombs hanging from it. The thread wrapped around her but she used a substitution before they exploded.

"Shadow stitching jutsu!" Shikamaru yelled coming up behind her.

Quickly she flipped backwards. "Human path, fire style flame beheading!" she yelled.

Shikamaru watched as suddenly her samurai sword burst into flames. She swung it once, twice in the direction of Shikamaru and he barely jumped out of the way as flames burst from her sword following the trajectory of her swings.

"That's a new one." He said. "I thought I was a goner."

"There is a lot more packed up these sleeves, but I won't ruin all the surprises yet. Take this!" Hitomi yelled. "Animal path, summoning jutsu!"

Just then a giant ram burst from the ground, the ram was about as tall as the trees and as wide as a river. The ram reared up and slammed its feet down rushing towards Shikamaru, he barely maneuvering his way around its legs as it ran at him. He stood shaking for a moment; this girl was going to be the death of him one of these days.

Hitomi chuckled. "Had enough yet?" She asked.

"No way!" Shikamaru answered.

"The how about this!" Hitomi yelled. "Flaming murder of crows!" she continued as she swung her sword sending waves of energy from it forcing the wind into the shape of crows.

"_This is insane, I can't even get a breather to think of a strategy._" Shikamaru thought as the wind became engulfed in flames as it flew at him.

"Shikamaru!" Hitomi yelled, the crows were getting too close, he wasn't paying attention. "Ugh…water style, water wall!" she yelled surrounding Shikamaru in a water wall and putting out the crows as they hit it. "Have you had enough now? I'd rather not kill you." She said.

As the water wall fell Shikamaru stood frozen with his eyes wide. "Yeah…I think I'm done now."

Hitomi smiled and floated down next to him. "Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. I just had a special advantage." She said sheathing her sword. "I have yet to meet someone who beat me. Hey, how about we go get some lunch."

Chapter 25

"Hey Gaara, it's been awhile since Hitomi left, and without telling me too." Kami said annoyed. "But we haven't heard anything from her; do you think she's alright? Don't you think she should've sent word by now? It's been long enough for her to have returned to the leaf, and I know you said she's fighting the Akatsuki, and well I still have a bone to pick with them. Please let me go, please." Kami begged.

Gaara just shook his head. "I guess you're right, go on, but only on one condition. Take Temari and Kankuro with you, I'll assign you an official mission. You three are to travel to the hidden leaf and find news about Hitomi and the Akatsuki. In a worst case scenario, if you come across the Akatsuki do whatever it takes to destroy them. Pay them back with all you anger, but don't pay with your life do you understand?"

Kami sighed. "Yeah I get it. Do I really have to take those two?"

"Kami, until you become a jounin you aren't authorized to do any missions on your own, and I'm not prepared to make you a jounin yet. So yes, you have to take them." Gaara explained.

"Fine, but only if I can be team captain." Kami said crossing her arms. Gaara just looked at her. "So they're both jounin, who cares, I have to be a team captain sometime! I am a chunin after all, for all I care send me with some genin, I'd rather deal with kids than those two siblings of yours."

"Kami, you'll do what I say. I'll allow you to be team captain so long as the mission remains not life-threatening, but Temari and Kankuro are jounin for a reason, if you come across the Akatsuki I'm counting on you to follow their lead. Besides, I can't risk losing you." Gaara said.

Kami sighed but she smiled. "Fine." She finally agreed. "I'm going then. I'll miss you." She said walking over to him and turning his chair to face her. "And when I get back…" she said kissing him. "We'll have some fun okay." She said grinning and kissing him once more before walking to the door.

Gaara grinned as he watched her walk, how did she manage to get her butt to look so good in that kimono? "We could have some fun before you go…" he said.

Kami chuckled and closed his door. "Why, I thought you'd never ask." She said clicking the lock closed and walking over to him, kissing him while he sat in his chair.

As she left his office she looked back at his shirtless body, he was just putting his pants on. She looked back at him as he slipped his robes on and he just sat down rolling his eyes and returning to his work…well he had new work, his paperwork was all over the place and all wrinkled now, now he had to clean it up.

"Hey Kankuro, Gaara needs you in his office!" Kami yelled. "It's okay, just make him clean up, and tell him I'm leaving without him if he doesn't get it done in ten minutes." Kami said walking down the hall and outside.

"I can't believe Gaara is letting you be team captain." Temari said meeting Kami at the exit to the village. "It's not fair, you get too may privileges being in that kind of relationship with him. It's inappropriate."

"Hey, just deal with it okay. It's not like I have a team of my own, I've got to show my abilities somehow. Why don't you just convince him to let me go alone, that'll work." Kami said putting her hands on her hips.

"Yeah right, like you could handle anything on your own, that's why we're going with you. We have to take care of you." Kankuro said showing up. "And I'm not cleaning up any more of your messes Kaminari."

"Oh shut up, are we ready to go then?" Kami asked. "We might have to fight the Akatsuki, so we need to be prepared."

Temari rolled her eyes. "Lead the way." She said. "_I just got back from the leaf and now I have to return again and with this brat too? We'll maybe I can see Shikamaru…_" she thought to herself.

"Temari, move it!" Kami yelled looking back at her having already began walking.

Temari shook her head and quickly caught up to Kami and Kankuro. The trip was mostly quiet, as in they didn't run into any trouble, just a few bandits here and there which they dealt with easily, but no sign of the Akatsuki. Kami was beginning to wonder; only a few things were possible. Either the Akatsuki had been defeated, they had fled, or they were currently rampaging in the hidden leaf village. Considering the peacefulness of the forest and the fact that the sand hadn't received word of an attack she was going with the first few options, though she wouldn't mind teaching them a lesson or two.

"Hold it." Kami said tossing her arm out. She had relaxed too soon, she felt a weird vibe in the area. "Do you guys feel that?"

Temari gasped. "Yeah, what is that? It's like…it feels like such an immense amount of chakra but it feels so evil…"

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Kankuro agreed.

"Summoning jutsu!" Kami yelled summoning Kameko to her side, only he didn't summon.

"Sorry Kaminari, I had some…business to attend to. Be back soon, if it's urgent you know how to contact me." A note said that appeared in his place.

"Kameko!" Kami yelled, red chakra surging around her body. "Get your ass here now! You can't just not show up!" she yelled.

Slowly her chakra seeped off her body and appeared on the ground next to her, taking the shape of Kameko, and eventually he appeared. "Oh…" Kameko said stopping what he was doing.

"Were you just…I swear you were just humping the air…no wait, never mind I don't know. Just…" Kami said placing her hand over her face. "Look, can you just tell me if you smell anything weird around here, we're all getting a weird vibe."

Kameko straightened up and sniffed around. "I smell something, I've smelt it before back when Gaara was taken but it wasn't anyone that we fought, it was just there. I didn't think anything of it then but it is a bit…off from the rest of the surroundings."

Just then two Akatsuki dropped from the trees, Kami knew these ones, they were a popular duo. "Itachi Uchiha…Kisame Hoshigaki." She said.

"You're interfering, leave now and I won't kill you." Itachi said.

"Kaminari, stay back, we'll take them." Temari said, she didn't particularly like it but she knew Gaara would want Kami protected at all costs.

"No! Damn it, I'm not a child!" Kami yelled causing Temari to take a step back. "And I'm not going to just walk away. So was it you two then? Were you the ones threatening the leaf…where is Hitomi?"

"I don't know this name, but if you must know no. It was a different group who had come, but they failed, we're here to pick up the pieces." Itachi said.

"Itachi quit playing with them. Why don't we just take them out now?" Kisame asked pulling his sword from his back.

"That isn't part of our mission." Itachi said glaring at Kisame.

"Oh come now, let's have some fun." Kisame argued.

"All you Akatsuki are the same, you all talk too much and you all underestimate me and my will to protect those I care about." Kami said closing her eyes. "And I've had about enough of your talking." She finished opening her eyes and revealing her sharingan.

Itachi gasped, what, another Uchiha? No it wasn't possible, he had slaughtered them all but Sasuke, he as the only one who was supposed to be alive, where did this girl get her eyes?

"Temari, Kankuro, you take the fish freak, let Kameko and I deal with this one." Kami said.

"No, you're supposed to follow our lead Kaminari." Kankuro said.

"Just do it!" She yelled glaring back at him with her sharingan. "If we take them both together our chances are slim, but if we split them up the odds increase." Kami said.

Kisame laughed. "You think splitting us up will help you? Alright, fine. We'll see about that, I can take you all on my own."

"Kisame, you're too reckless. Someday you'll die because of it. So be it, have it your way." Itachi said. "Kisame, deal with them, I'll finish the mission." Itachi said jumping off into the trees.

"Kameko! Lead the way!" Kami yelled as the two of them jumped off too quickly for Kisame to follow.

Temari blew a gust of wind in-between where Kisame was and where Kami had jumped off to, blocking him from following. "You're dealing with us." She said.

Itachi soon stopped realizing he was being followed. "What do you want?" Itachi asked.

"I'd like to ask the same from you." Kami answered dropping from the trees.

"Who are you, where did you get those eyes?" Itachi asked.

"My name is Kaminari Nambake; you'll do well to remember it." She said.

"So then, you aren't an Uchiha." Itachi decided.

"That's what you would like to think isn't it, but the sharingan is an Uchiha family trait isn't it, and I sure as hell didn't steal these eyes." Kami answered.

"I don't understand…" Itachi gasped then thinking back to years and years ago when his clan was still thriving.

Itachi had been a spy under the black ops; his objective was to find out information about what the Uchiha clan had been plotting against the leaf village. When he found out they had planned to destroy the village he was given a mission to annihilate his clan. Knowing full well how he would be seen if he killed off his own clan, he did it anyway, his love for the village larger than his love for his clan. The only person he had kept alive was Sasuke, but he remembered something. When the nine-tailed fox attacked the hidden leaf village a woman from his clan had escaped, when he grew older and joined the Anbu he hadn't even thought of her, had she had a child with her under her cloak? Why then was this girls name not Uchiha, what reason did that woman have to change her child's name?

"You…it's impossible. But that woman…" Itachi began.

"What woman?!" Kami growled. "Tell me what you now!"

"I won't tell you anything." Itachi said attempting to look into her eyes to place her in a genjutsu, but she knew his tricks.

"Kameko, formation three!" Kami yelled.

Itachi turned around just in time to see Kameko fire a lightning ball at him. When had that dog gotten behind him? Itachi was actually taken off guard for once, he had been too focused on Kami and her sharingan. The blast hit Itachi and just as planned tossed him backwards towards Kami.

"Earth style, earth fist!" Kami yelled turning her fist into earth and flowing her chakra into it smashing it into Itachi's body.

Itachi flew back forward, and just as Kameko was ready for his next attack, turned into crows disappearing and reappearing in a tree. "Not bad." He said. "Catching me off guard like that, impressive."

"Tell me what you know about my family, you mentioned a woman." Kami said.

"Yes, that woman. She must've been your mother, it's the only way." Itachi said.

"Tell me what you know!" Kami yelled, Kameko standing ready at her side.

"This guy's not much of a talker is he?" Kameko said.

"Alright, it's not like it matters whether I tell you or not, so I'll go ahead and explain. Years ago when the nine-tailed fox attacked the hidden leaf, a woman fled. In fear I would venture to say, but none the less she was from my clan. I remember hearing about it when I was young; one of the men in my clan had been talking about how his wife was missing. Everyone just assumed she had been killed by the nine-tails, however I had seen her escape, I remember watching the woman run off by herself. I never thought much about it or bothered to tell anyone, and when I destroyed my clan she never crossed my mind. I guess I assumed she was dead, but now that I think about it…" Itachi trailed off. "I believe I remember seeing that woman in the hidden rain village when I left to become an Akatsuki."

"In the hidden rain?!" Kami yelled.

"But that was years ago, she's more than likely dead or moved, and if someone like Orochimaru had found out her true identity I'm sure he would've taken her away, more than likely for one of his experiments." Itachi explained.

Kami thought for a moment, things were falling together slowly; piece by piece she was filling in the gaps. So when she was born her mother fled the village only to return later to leave Kami, then she left and took Kami's twin sister with her, fleeing to the hidden rain. Kami had remembered seeing her sister with a sound village headband, so then her sister and more than likely her mother had moved to the hidden sound where her sister had found Orochimaru. On her father's side was the white fang, Kakashi's father. So then, Kakashi and this woman must've had some sort of affair before the nine-tailed fox attack which produced Kami and her sister. The white fang killed himself shortly after the nine-tails attack, he probably didn't even know he had two daughters. So then, his mother must've fled the village and changed Kami's name so that no one would know of the affair, perhaps she didn't want to bring bad fortune upon the Uchiha and Hatake clans which were highly regarded.

She shook her head, how could she be sure any of this information was right? Her so called sister might not even be her sister, and even if she was she wasn't very sure about the white fang being their father. Kami hadn't spoken to her assumed mother and her assumed father was dead and gone. Itachi surly had no way of knowing if the woman he spoke of was her mother, and even so his information was minimal. The only way Kami could figure out anything else about her past would be to find the woman that might be her mother.

"It seems I have no further need to be here at the moment. Another time perhaps." Itachi said holding two fingers in front of his face and flying away as a murder of crows.

"Kami?" Kameko asked.

Kami didn't respond, she just stood there thinking. Her parents had an affair, her mother left leaving Kami at the leaf, then her father killed himself and her sister joined Orochimaru. If all this information was right, then she had a pretty fucked up family. She broke her train of thought as Temari and Kankuro jumped through the trees.

"Kami? I'm going now, I was just a tad busy before you forced me here." Kameko said waiting for her to respond, she said nothing. "Okay, it was a real slice helping you out again, oh slices…maybe next time I can get a slice of steak." He said.

"Oh…just go screw yourself." Kami said.

"Aha, but I don't have to do that anymore." Kameko answered.

"Huh?" Kami asked confused.

"Nothing, I've got to go." Kameko said disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"That wolf…" Kami said. "We'll I take it Kisame is gone as well."

"Yes, he just disappeared without warning." Temari explained.

"Then I guess we better get to the hidden leaf, our mission isn't done until we find Hitomi." Kami said.

As she walked into the village she took a nice deep breath. It sure was nice being in a more colorful village every once in a while, the hidden sand was so bland. Kami showed the shinobi at the front gate their permits for entering the village and they made their way to Hitomi's house. As they turned the corner to see her house they found her, in one piece and walking alongside Shikamaru laughing at something.

"Kami?" Hitomi asked looking up to see her. "_Oh no it's Temari…_"

"Hitomi, so you're alright. We were starting to worry, we hadn't heard anything from you since you left." Kami said as the two of them met in front of Shikamaru's house.

"Oh…sorry about that, I got caught up in some things." Hitomi said smiling.

"Um…Hitomi I think I'm going to go check up on Kurenai." Shikamaru said. "You'll know where to find me if I'm not back in a few hours."

"Alright, give her my best." Hitomi said as Shikamaru anxiously made his way to Kurenai's house, the last thing he wanted was to be between Temari and Hitomi.

"You two seemed happy." Kami said elbowing Hitomi.

"Well you know how it is…" Hitomi said rubbing her head. "So maybe you were a little right…"

"A little?" Kami asked raising an eyebrow.

"Okay maybe you knew me better than I knew myself." Hitomi said shaking her head. "Anyway, we better send a report back to Gaara then shouldn't we?"

"Uh huh, and then you can tell me all the details." Kami teased.

"Wait…details? What did I miss?" Temari asked annoyed, Kankuro just standing by thinking he'd rather be dead than with three women, and of all women it had to be these three.

"Hey I don't know what you three are here for, but how about you and Kankuro go take a break while I talk to Kami." Hitomi said smiling.

"Actually, Kaminari we've completed our mission we should really be going." Temari said.

"Hey, whose team captain here? Oh yeah, me, and I say I'm not traveling back to the sand village after only being here for like five minutes. We're going to be stayed a few days, so find a place to rest." Kami ordered. "Take a breather; I'm sure that Kisame was quite a match for you two." Kami teased

"Kisame, you mean…" Hitomi began.

"Yeah, but hey let's not get into that just yet, tell me what happened with Shikamaru." Kami asked as the two of them walked off to the messenger room to deliver a report back to the hidden sand.

Chapter 26

"It's been nearly a week since I've returned here and I still haven't gone to actually see Tsunade." Hitomi said grinning as they walked inside the mansion.

"We barely even spoke to her when we left." Kami said. "It's going to be a bit odd if I see her again."

"Well why don't we stop by? I'm sure she would be delighted to see you." Hitomi said stopping just outside Tsunade's office.

"Or maybe we could not…" Kami disagreed.

Hitomi just shook her head and knocked on the office door. "Lady Tsunade? There is someone here to speak with you."

"Enter." Tsuande said. As the two girls entered the room Tsunade tilted her head a little confused. "Kaminari?" she asked.

"Hey…" Kami said awkwardly, rubbing her head.

"So Tsunade…" Hitomi began.

"Wait, I have something to tell you. Tsunade it's important." Kami said stopping Hitomi. "I…on my way here I ran into Itachi Uchiha and his Akatsuki partner Kisame Hoshigaki."

"What?! More Akatsuki?!" Tsunade yelled slamming her fists into her desk.

"Yes, we were dealing with them, Temari, Kankuro and I, and then they just left. I'm not sure what they were here for…" Kami trailed off.

"Well we have to deal with this. They could still be close by." Tsunade said. "I need to assemble all available jounin…"

"Malady if I may. I don't think sending everyone out in separate directions is the best idea. We did that before remember and we lost a good man. Splitting our forces up like that…pulling them away from the village…I think it might be best if we keep most of the forces within a small perimeter of the village and send only a few shinobi out to search for the Akatsuki." Hitomi said.

"Hitomi when we sent just the one squad before they couldn't handle it." Tsunade explained.

"We just need to send a tracker, find the Akatsuki and then send for reinforcements." Hitomi said.

"Well who do you propose we send? Nearly everyone is currently out on a mission." Tsuande explained.

"Well…you're forgetting someone. You've got me, and Kami has a ninja hound, plus Kakashi could always lend us one." Hitomi said.

"I can't send Kami out there; I don't have authorization to give her any missions." Tsunade explained.

"Just let me go, I can do it on my own." Hitomi said.

"No, you're only a chunin. I can't send you to deal with the Akatsuki on your own, it's too dangerous." Tsunade said.

"Have you forgotten what powers I possess?" Hitomi said looking her in the eyes.

"Hitomi, the thing is we received word recently that Orochimaru had been killed, and by Sasuke Uchiha. If Sasuke had killed Orochimaru he'll be coming after Itachi next, I wouldn't want you getting caught up in that mess; we already have enough of our forces out looking for Sasuke. Right now team Kakashi along with team Kurenai are out looking and team Guy is off on another mission. The only reinforcements I have for you would be team Asuma…and well…" Tsunade said.

"I can handle it on my own okay, have some faith." Hitomi said smiling. "Come on you're talking to the bearer of the legendary rinnegan."

Tsunade grinned. "Alright, but this is an S rank mission. If I don't hear from you within a day I'm sending what's left of team Asuma. Also, if you find out anything especially involving Sasuke send word to Kakashi."

"Of course, I'll leave right away." Hitomi said.

"What?! I just got here and you're leaving already?" Kami asked.

"A mission's a mission." Hitomi said quickly leaving Tsunade's office.

"Oh please, you practically gave yourself that mission." Kami argued following her.

"I've been dying to get an opportunity like this. You'll be alright without me won't you?" Hitomi asked.

"Uh, no? What am I supposed to do? Why can't I just go with you?" Kami asked.

"That would be because you had to go have sex with the Kazekage and become a sand ninja. If you don't know what to do then just leave, I'm sorry Kami." Hitomi said sincerely just as they exited the mansion. "Oh and you better go send word to Gaara before you go."

"You make everything so difficult." Kami said. "We were just inside right by the messenger room."

"Well go back." Hitomi shrugged. "Gotta go." She said jumping away.

"Man…" Kami said narrowing her eyes. "One of these days…" she continued before jumping off as well.

"Hitomi, you're packing…" Shikamaru said walking into his room to see her packing a bag of her things.

"I have a mission." Hitomi answered clipping the bag around her waist. "I'll be back in no time."

"What kind of mission?" Shikamaru asked.

"An important one, it's an S rank. Talk to Tsunade about it, she's going to send your team if I need reinforcements." Hitomi said placing her hands on Shikamaru's face and kissing him before jumping down out of the window and rushing off.

Once she had left the village she looked around, she had no idea where to begin looking. Well there was one way to search far, fast. She used her chakra vision to search, but in a wide distance she didn't see anyone. Sighing she bit her thumbs and performed her hand signs then placed both hands on the ground and summoned a flock of birds from one hand and a large group of squirrels from the other hand. The animals just kept appearing from her hands running and flying off in all directions, now she just had to wait until one of them returned with information. Jumping into a tree she didn't have to wait long until one of the squirrels and one of the birds returned to her. Quickly she got up and without a word followed them until she could hear voices. Looking into the distance with her eyes she saw four people. Sasuke and three others, then a fifth dropped down. Kisame, but no Itachi.

"Only Sasuke passes this point." Kisame said.

"That's fine. I was only traveling in a group to avoid interference. You three stay here." Sasuke said rushing past Kisame.

So Tsunade was right, and Itachi must've been here for Sasuke. Quickly Hitomi left her animals to watch Kisame and the others while she followed Sasuke at a distance to make sure he didn't sense her. Following him she realized where he was going, the Uchiha hideout, it had to be, their family crest was all over the stone building. Inside she could see a battle about to start. It raged on bursting from the building out onto the roof. Lightning flew from the storm clouds above creating a dragon and Itachi countered with some type of huge summoning jutsu, it was difficult to explain. Some type of giant orange transparent demon that protected Itachi with its shield and attacked Sasuke with a giant glowing sword.

Hitomi watched from the sidelines as eight white snakes burst from Sasuke only to be sucked into oblivion by the demon Itachi controlled. She couldn't even comprehend this battle; she'd never witnessed anything like it before. Black flames covered the roof and they were slowly making their way down into the forest. Black flames, amaterasu, they would burn infinitely unable to be stopped until they had destroyed their target. She turned to leave quickly to escape the flames when a masked man wearing Akatsuki robes stopped her.

"You don't belong here." A deep voice rang. "This battle is only for Sasuke and Itachi."

Hitomi pulled her sword out and looked at the masked man. "Who are you?!" she demanded.

The masked man began to speak but his words broke off a second later. "Those eyes…but how?"

"I don't think that is any concern of yours." Hitomi said, her sword bursting into flames. "Who are you?!"

"My name is of no importance. Where did those eyes come from, only he is supposed to possess those powers." The man said.

"I don't know who he is, but I guess he's not the only one. Inferno dragon!" she yelled sweeping her sword out in front of her.

The flames flew from her sword growing bigger and bigger as they mixed with her wind chakra she was forcing through her sword as well. The flames grew large enough that they took the shape of a dragon as they swooped down and encircled the masked man. For a moment she had thought she might have won but as the flames dispersed there was no body there.

"That was impressive. I've never even seen him use that kind of ability with regular jutsu; however he's probably much more powerful with other abilities." The masked man said from behind her and threw numerous amounts of bombs at her.

Hitomi gasped and quickly placed her barrier up and deflected all the bombs back at him. Then she saw how he had survived the inferno, the bombs just flew right through his body and exploded like he wasn't even there. She saw what he was doing but she didn't understand how, was she in some type of genjutsu? Was he even real or was she just imagining the whole thing? Hitomi lifted her sword to attack again but as the demon in the distance that Itachi had summoning disappeared so did the man in front of her. She froze, what had just happened?

"Hitomi! What was all that about? Who was that?" Kami asked running through the trees.

"Kami?!" Hitomi yelled. "What are you doing here?!"

"Well we were on our way back and…" Kami trailed off.

"Yeah yeah…well…" Hitomi began looking up at the Uchiha hideout's roof. "I better get word to Kakashi. Summoning jutsu." She said summoning a hawk to her arm. "Take this to Kakashi." She said placing a small note on the bird's leg. "Now fly." She ordered as the bird flew away. "We better get out of here before we get caught up in those flames."

"So anyway, who was that guy?" Kami asked as the two of them regrouped with Temari and Kankuro.

"I'm not sure, another Akatsuki and he kept talking about someone else. He kept referring to him simply as him. I've got to get this information back to Tsunade." Hitomi said.

"This blows, now you're going back and we just left." Kami complained.

"That's just how it is; we aren't part of a team anymore. We don't even live in the same village." Hitomi said. "But, the mission to find out your past is still going so…"

"Oh right, my past. I've got to go. Temari, Kankuro, let's move." Kami said running off quickly.

"Ummm…okay?" Hitomi said confused, rubbing her head. "Another time then…"

Hitomi shrugged and headed in the opposite direction, she had to tell Tsunade about everything she saw before she forgot anything, including that group of people Sasuke had been with. She ran back as fast as she could, running right past Shikamaru, who had been leaving to go find her, and then up to Tsunade's office.

"Lady Tsuande!" She yelled bursting in without knocking. Good thing Tsunade wasn't like Gaara and Kami.

"You're back?! What did you find out?!" Tsuande exclaimed standing up.

"Itachi…is dead. Sasuke…in a group. Masked Akatsuki." Hitomi said leaning over and resting her hands on her knees catching her breath.

"What do you mean? Spit it out!" Tsuande yelled.

Hitomi stood up straight then having caught her breath. "I found Sasuke; he was traveling with three other companions, a white haired man with a large broadsword, a pink haired woman, and a bulky orange haired man. Kisame showed up and stopped the group on their expedition and let only Sasuke pass. I followed Sasuke to the Uchiha hideout where a battle between him and Itachi took place. Itachi lost, and as I turned to leave a masked Akatsuki member tried to stop me, but he just disappeared and I lost track of him completely. None of my attacks worked on him, it was like they just went right through. I sent word to Kakashi sensei; I hadn't expected both Sasuke and Itachi to be here for the same reason."

"So…Itachi is dead then…and Sasuke?" Tsunade asked.

"Sasuke appeared to have fallen as well but I have my doubts. When I looked onto the roof Itachi's dead body was visible and Sasuke lay next to him, however there was still life in his body, but it was hard to tell anything through the black flames." Hitomi answered.

"Black flames? So…they possess that jutsu as well." Tsuande said biting her nail. "Is that all?"

"Well…Sasuke with the group, Itachi dead, black flames, masked man…yeah I think so. On my way back I was unable to find Kisame or the rest of Sasuke's group." Hitomi said rubbing her head. "I don't know what happened, it was almost like I imagined it all, it was like they all disappeared. I didn't understand it."

"No, you did well. So then, Kakashi's group is no doubt investigating the scene?" Tsunade asked.

"I would assume, like I said I sent them word." Hitomi answered.

"I'm impressed at how quickly you found Sasuke. Team Kakashi and team Kurenai have been searching for days and haven't found anything." Tsunade said.

"Well, I didn't try and follow a scent like they no doubt did. Sasuke more than likely knew someone would come looking for him and I wouldn't be surprised if he planted his scent all over the place to lure our shinobi away from the truth. I on the other hand, just sent out enough inconspicuous animals that they finally came across him. Sometimes all you need is more people…or animals." Hitomi said grinning.

Tsunade grinned back. "I think I'd like to promote you."

"What?" Hitomi asked confused.

"The reality is you're easily a jounin level ninja. You've been doing solo missions for me for years now and with the success of this mission and the speed of the success I don't see any reason to hold you back any longer. Those eyes of yours give you incredible abilities, abilities most of us didn't even think existed, and aside from that you don't have a team anymore so sending you on a mission in a team would mean that I have to find members from another team to place you with. I was just going to place you in team Asuma, and I think in fact I still will, but I think it's time to make you a jounin." Tsunade said.

"Really?" Hitomi asked shocked.

"Hitomi Natsuki." Tsunade said forcefully.

"Yes Ma'am!" Hitomi answered standing up straight.

"I promote you to jounin and assign you as team captain of team Asuma. You will now be known as team Hitomi." Tsunade said.

"Thank you malady." Hitomi said.

"Now, go find Shikamaru and fill them in. I may have a mission for you soon." Tsunade ordered.

"Right away!" Hitomi said making her way to the door.

"Oh Hitomi…" Tsuande said stopping Hitomi.

"Yes?" Hitomi asked turning around.

"Don't let your emotions get the best of you in a tough situation, don't make me regret putting you and Shikamaru in a squad together." Tsunade said sitting down in her chair again.

"I won't, I give you my word. You can count on me." Hitomi said exiting the office and closing the door behind her. "Yes!" she exclaimed quietly. "Finally made jounin."

"Hitomi." Shikamaru said walking down the hall. "I thought you might be here, you seemed to be in a bit of a rush."

"Oh…I had some important information to deliver to Lady Tsunade about my mission." She answered.

"Oh yeah? What happened?" He asked as the two of them met and began to leave the building.

"Well…" She began as she relayed the information to him. "So team Kakashi and team Kurenai should be off investigating right now." She finished as they made their way to his house.

"So then what were you so excited about in the hall?" He asked as they entered the house.

"Shikamaru, you're home. Oh and Hitomi, it's been a few days. Were you on a mission?" Shikamaru's mother, Yoshino, asked hugging her, well it was nice to know his parents liked her…well his mom, she wasn't sure about his father.

"Yes, I was out. It's good to be back at home though." Hitomi said smiling.

Yoshino smiled. "It's nice that you think of here as your home, Shikamaru you better keep her around you hear? Because if you don't…"

"I know mom." Shikamaru said annoyed, rubbing his head. "Give me a break would ya?"

"Well, anyway." Hitomi said taking Shikamaru's hand in hers and walking up to his room. "You asked what I was so excited about, well Tsunade just made me a jounin."

"Really? That's great. Poor Naruto, I can't believe Tsunade doesn't just make him a chunin already, but I guess he has to take the exams like everyone else." Shikamaru said sitting on his bed.

"Oh and something else, she made me team captain of your team, Shikamaru." Hitomi said.

"What? So you're team captain now? What a drag…" he said.

"Yep, team Hitomi." She said smiling and placing her hands on her hips.

"Don't let it go to your head." Shikamaru said raising an eyebrow at her.

"Hey now, I'm serious, she said that we'll be called team Hitomi now." Hitomi said crossing her arms as she stood in front of him.

"Well then, am I supposed to start calling you Hitomi sensei?" Shikamaru teased.

"Yes, unless you become jounin." Hitomi teased back. "Speaking of which, don't you think it's about time you became a jounin?"

Shikamaru looked at her and just gasped. "What?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't have much trouble if you just stopped complaining about what a drag everything was." Hitomi said climbing over him, onto his lap.

"Oh yeah? I feel like we had this discussion before, we both know I don't want the extra hassle, going on missions alone, that's what you're for." He said.

"I'm for a lot more than running errands and doing your S-rank missions by myself." She said grinning as she kissed him and pushed him down onto the bed.

Chapter 27

"So you mean you did run into the Akatsuki." Gaara asked when Kami had returned to his office.

"Yeah but that's not what I'm getting at here Gaara. Itachi may have given me some important information about my past. I need to go check out the hidden rain village. Last time I tried getting in there the guards at the front gates wouldn't allow it, in fact they almost attacked Hitomi and me, but there is a chance my mom might be living there. If she isn't there I need to go to the hidden sound, I have reason to believe she might be there as well." Kami said.

"Kami, I thought you gave up on this. Hitomi is gone now; who are you going to travel with?" Gaara asked.

"I'll go alone then." Kami said. "It's not like I'm dealing with the Akatsuki, besides I can handle myself on my own."

"You're not going alone." Gaara said.

"I am going alone." Kami argued placing her hands on his desk and leaning over it to glare at him. "I love you, but I'm doing this."

"You'll go even if I say no won't you?" Gaara asked.

"Yeah." Kami admitted.

"Fine." Gaara said sighing. "I wish you would take someone with you."

"I'll be fine." Kami assured him. "You underestimate me."

"No…I just worry about you…" He admitted.

Kami smiled, "So if you're letting me go alone does that mean I'm a jounin now? Come on I wanna become a jounin before Hitomi, why don't you just make me jounin."

"It's not as simple as just making you a jounin. I've got to believe you possess the abilities to be a jounin." Gaara explained.

"But I do possess the abilities!" Kami argued. "Gaara…." She said pouting.

"If you go out there and come back having learned something then I'll think about it. You better keep me informed at all times as well you understand." Gaara said.

"Yes! Awesome." Kami said kissing him. "I promise you won't regret this."

"Just go before I change my mind." Gaara said just looking at her.

"No fun this time?" She asked, sadly.

"We can't, I have a meeting to attend soon." Gaara said.

"Well the meeting can wait can't it? I mean you're the Kazekage don't they have to wait for you?" Kami asked still pouting.

"No, it'll give you an incentive to return in one piece." Gaara said standing up. "Maybe I'll get you to just stay here and not go altogether." He said wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her. "It might not seem like me to say it, but I'd rather keep you around at all times."

"But…but…" Kami argued.

"You better get going then, the sooner you leave the sooner you get back." He said exiting his office and walking down the hall to the meeting room.

Kami dropped her head and drug her feet as she headed outside preparing to leave on her mission. First she would start in the hidden rain, the chances of her getting in were slim but she could at least ask. It was about a day away and if that failed she would be traveling for another three days to the hidden sound, which no one was really sure where it existed. Somewhere out in the land of rice patties was as far as anyone really got. Beginning her trip things were a bit quiet, a bit boring, and Kami felt lonely and a bit upset that she hadn't had any sexy time with Gaara. Sighing she came to a stop, well it wasn't the preferred option but it was an option.

"Summonin jutsu." She said placing her hand on the branch she was standing on and summoning Kameko.

"Woof." Kameko said annoyed.

"Well hello to you too." Kami said raising an eyebrow.

"Woof, where's my steak, woof." Kameko said again, still annoyed.

"I never said you were going to get a steak." Kami argued.

"Gay." Kameko said stretching out. "What the hell do you want anyway? You sure have been summoning me a lot lately."

"I just wanted some company is that too much to ask?" Kami said glaring at him.

"Company?! From me, oh that's so sweet." Kameko said sitting down.

"Don't let it go to your head, traveling alone for days on end just gets boring." Kami explained.

"Alright I'm at your service queen bitch, let's go." Kameko said.

"You keep saying things like that and there won't be any questions about your cause of death." Kami said as she began jumping through the trees again.

"Nah, you wouldn't kill me you need me around." Kameko said. "Without me you'd be dead you know."

Kami sighed. "You really think you're something special don't you?"

"That's because I am something special. Come on, how many other white wolves like me do you find?" Kameko asked.

"Well, Akamaru is pretty close and he doesn't mouth off all the time." Kami said glaring at Kameko.

"Yeah, well that mutt also pees on everything." Kameko said growling.

"Hey what did he ever do to you?" Kami asked. "How do you know he pees on everything?"

"I can smell him everywhere, especially when we were in the leaf forest." Kameko explained. "I'm a dog you know."

"Well I…" Kami began when she suddenly saw someone. "Master Jiraiya?" she asked.

"Oh, hey there. Do I know you pretty lady?" Jiraiya asked.

"Oh lord…" Kami said shaking her head. "No you don't really know me, but I originally come from the hidden leaf. What are you doing out here?"

"Well, I was on a mission but I could take a break if you know what I mean." He said raising his eyebrow at her. "I sure would enjoy that."

Kami's eye twitched. "What…?"

"Aw come on, I'm a lot younger than my white hair makes me look." Jiraiya continued.

"No, you're like 50." Kami said placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh come on now, that just means I'm experienced." Jiraiya said stepping closer to her and putting his arm around her.

Kami clenched her fists and her eyes twitched again as she fused her chakra into her hands. She yelled and threw her fist up smashing it into Jiraiya's face sending him flying into a nearby tree. She glared at him rage burning in her eyes, what was that moron thinking hitting on her?! He was so old…and so…not Gaara at all. She stomped over to him and he tried moving but was stuck against the tree. All he could think about was how she was like a third Tsunade. Between Tsunade, Sakura, and Kaminari he definitely was in for a lot of trouble.

"Just who do you think you're hitting on old man?!" Kami yelled stomping down in front of him and placing her hands on her hips.

"No no no! I didn't mean it like that!" Jiraiya said waving his hands in front of him trying to ward her off, clearly he was lying. "I just meant…you looked tired and probably needed a break and I could keep you company or something! I just grabbed you because I thought you looked like you were going to faint."

"Man you sure are good at making up lies." Kami said shaking her head again. "Get up."

Quickly Jiraiya stood up. "Anyway, what brings you out here?"

Kami sighed. "I'm looking for some information about my past and I thought I might find it in the hidden rain village."

"No." was all Jiraiya said.

"No?" Kami asked confused.

"I don't know if there is any information there about your past but I advise if there is, just forget about it. You'll never be able to get in for one, but there is a reason I'm here. I'm going to the hidden rain as well and on a very important mission dealing with the Akatsuki. Do not go there, just go home." Jiraiya said.

"But…" Kami began.

"Just listen to me. You don't want to go there, the hidden rain isn't exactly a nice place, and it's not like the hidden leaf." Jiraiya reinforced.

"So then you brought me here for nothing, Kami?" Kameko asked annoyed.

"No, no I still have another place to search." Kami explained. "So something important about the Akatsuki huh? What is it; I've still got a bone to pick with them?"

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with, I'm just gathering information at the moment, and I probably need to be going." Jiraiya said. "Take my advice and just go home."

"I can't do that, I have to come back and have learned something. I guess I'm off to try and find the hidden sound." Kami said shrugging.

"You're just asking for trouble aren't you? First you try going to the home of the Akatsuki leader and then the known village of Orochimaru?" Jiraiya asked.

"Wait, the Akatsuki leader?!" Kami exclaimed.

Jiraiya sighed. "Don't worry about it. Go on over to the sound village, now that Orochimaru's dead I doubt there will be much trouble. I wish you the best of luck." He said before summoning a toad, crawling into its mouth and allowing it to swallow him and then making the toad shrink down to normal size and jump into the water that lead into the hidden rain village.

Kami and Kameko just stood there in silence and in shock. "What…?" they both said simultaneously.

"Did he just let a toad swallow him and then shrink?" Kami asked.

"Yeah…" Kameko answered. "I didn't believe it either."

"I…guess we better get going." Kami said. "Come on, we're about three days out."

"Aw man…I gotta deal with you for three whole days?" Kameko complained as they began traveling again.

"Yes." Kami answered.

The three day trip was like torture, spending three days with Kameko was almost worse than being alone. The only reason she was even able to spend three days with him was because it didn't constantly deplete her chakra to do it. The two of them were like water and oil; they didn't fit together at all during normal conversation, but during battle it was like two peas in a pod.

"So…this is the land of the rice patties?" Kameko asked as they reached open fields of what should've been…well rice, but they were empty.

"Well…I think it's just called the land of sound now…" Kami answered.

"I think I can see why…their rice production is a bit unsatisfactory." Kameko said as they slowed to a walk, coming upon a village.

"Hey…is that smoke?" Kami asked pointing to the village and seeing smoke rising.

"Yeah…you think a house is on fire or something?" Kameko asked looking at her.

"I've got a feeling it's more than just one house. Let's go." Kami ordered rushing off to the village.

She gasped as the entered the front gates, buildings were destroyed and most of them were on fire. People both dead and barely alive lay in the streets. The live bodies were trying to crawl away to safety, but there were only a few. Quickly Kami ran up to a man who was just barely breathing and bent down next to him.

"What happened here?!" She exclaimed.

"No! No, please don't kill me! I'm sorry I never did anything wrong, please!" The man yelled trying with all his strength to push himself away from her.

"What? I'm not going to hurt you." Kami said confused.

"That's what you told my brother! Get away you demon! You're a monster! I'll kill myself first!" The man yelled pulling out a kunai.

"Woah hold on!" Kami yelled grabbing his arms to prevent him from killing himself. "What are you talking about?! I just got here, I'm not going to hurt you!" she yelled.

The man looked at her for a second and then heard a loud explosion behind him. "Wait…so you're not…"

"No, what the hell is…" Kami began but was interrupted.

"You!" a woman yelled. Kami looked up to see Sumiko her twin sister standing there. Quickly Kami released the man and stood up on full alert. "How dare you show your face around here you bitch! Why should you get the sharingan huh?! Why don't I get the sharingan, why don't I get all those cool abilities you have?! Why do I have to steal all my jutsu and yours just comes to you naturally?! How can you use all five chakra natures and teach them to that mutt?! It doesn't make sense, it's not fair!" Sumiko yelled in anger.

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about or why you did this, but I just want to talk to my mother." Kami said.

"Ha! Your mother?! You mean this old hag?" Sumiko asked dragging her mother out from behind a building. "I've been waiting to kill her."

"No, Sumiko please, Sumiko darling why are you doing this?!" Her mother begged.

"Shut up!" Sumiko yelled. In anger she pulled a kunai and plunged it into her mother's chest shoving it in farther and farther as her anger grew.

"No!" Kami yelled; that was her last chance at understanding her past.

Kami screamed as she felt a burst of pain in her eyes and she dropped to her knees as tears ran down her face. As she forced herself to look up she couldn't believe her eyes. She watched as Sumiko removed the kunai from her mother's chest and moved backwards and put her mother behind the building again. Sumiko's mouth was moving but no words were coming out and then she walked backwards out of view before a small flash of pain burst into Kami's eyes and things returned to normal.

"Kameko what the hell just happened?" Kami asked looking at hm.

"Woah! What's up with your eyes?!" Kameko asked.

"What do you mean? What happened to them?!" Kami yelled in worry.

"I dunno, your sharingan looks all cool like." Kameko answered.

"You!" Sumiko yelled appearing around the corner again. "How dare you show your face around here you bitch! Why should you get the sharingan huh?! Why don't I get the sharingan, why don't I get all those cool abilities you have?! Why do I have to steal all my jutsu and yours just comes to you naturally?! How can you use all five chakra natures and teach them to that mutt?! It doesn't make sense, it's not fair!"

"Um…what?" Kami asked confused, hadn't Sumiko already said that?

"Don't what me! I'm talking to you!" Sumiko yelled. "Why don't I get sharingan?! I know why!" she yelled again pulling her mother out from behind the building. "I had been waiting to kill her…"

"No wait!" Kami yelled placing her hand on the ground and causing her mother to sink into the earth. "What the hell is going on here…?" Kami asked standing up as her mother reappeared from the earth behind Kami.

"How dare you!" Sumiko yelled stomping her foot down.

"Okay, I don't know what happened but I do know this, you killed all these people and you almost killed my mother, for that I have no reason not to kill you." Kami said holding her hand out as lighting chakra began to form into it.

"You think you're going to kill me?" Sumiko asked raising her eyebrow. "Try it; it didn't work out so well last time though did it?"

Kami growled at Sumiko. "Well you can't just kill everyone and get away with it!" Kami yelled.

"I beg to differ." Sumiko said.

"What's your reason for doing any of this anyway?! Orochimaru is dead!" Kami yelled.

"Orochimaru, dead? Please." Sumiko said shaking her head. "If that isn't the most ridiculous…"

"Sasuke did it. He killed Orochimaru." Kami explained.

Sumiko looked up. "If Sasuke did it…no it must've been Orochimaru that took over Sasuke's body finally and took his form…."

"Why don't you tell that to the Sasuke who just killed Itachi." Kami growled. "Your precious Orochimaru is dead."

Sumiko dropped her head, was Kami right? "You have to be wrong."

"Am I?!" Kami screamed appearing behind Sumiko and blasting her Chidori into Sumiko's back. At first Kami thought she had killed her, and she would've if chunks of wood hadn't flown out into all directions. "Another damn substitution jutsu?! Real original!"

"It's not time to destroy you yet Kaminari." Sumiko said appearing by her mother.

"Get away from her!" Kami yelled just as Sumiko pulled a kunai. "No!"

Just then out of nowhere Kameko jumped and sank his teeth into Sumiko's arm knocking her down and away from the mother. Sumiko shook her arm and tried to get Kameko off but he wouldn't let go, he just kept biting and scratching her, and before she realized it Kami was running at her to attack. Quickly Sumiko put her fingers in front of her face and disappeared in a puff of smoke barely escaping Kami's punch.

"Damn it!" Kami yelled. "She's such a coward."

"And she doesn't taste very good either." Kameko said.

"Oh well I guess." Kami said leaning down to her mother. "Mom?" she asked awkwardly.

"Sumiko?" the woman asked.

"No…it's Kaminari…are you my mother?" Kami asked.

The mother gasped. "Kaminari…"

"Yeah." Kami said helping the woman up onto her feet as she looked around at the destroyed village.

Mostly every single building was demolished or burning and from what Kami could tell nearly the whole village was dead, there wasn't a whole lot left for her to do. She sighed and walked over to the man she had spoken to before, he was no dead. Shaking her head she looked back at the woman.

"Well are you going to tell me your name or are you going to leave me hanging? I didn't spend three years looking for you just for you to die or run off on me now." Kami said.

"Oh…my name is Hoshi, and…yes, I believe I am your mother." She said quietly.

Chapter 28

Kami gasped. "Really?!"

"Yes…" Hoshi said ashamed.

"I have so much to ask you! But first…" Kami trailed off looking at the village. "Kameko, stay with her will you, I think I better check this place out, find any survivors."

"Fine." Kameko said annoyed.

"I'll try and be quick." Kami said jumping off to check bodies.

Most the bodies she found were of dead villagers, Sumiko really went overboard for whatever reason. She was lucky enough to find a few live villagers and did what she could for them, but she was no medical ninja all she could offer was some ointment she had. The surrounding lands weren't exactly allies to this village so sending word for help would be just as pointless. Even though the village had been small and hardly anyone survived Kami put out all the fires and did what she could, she couldn't imagine how the villagers felt having their village destroyed and their families killed.

"So…mom." Kami said walking back towards Hoshi and Kameko. "It's weird saying that….17 years without parents and now…"

"I'm sorry…you were supposed to grow up alongside your father." Hoshi explained.

"Look…do you mind coming back home with me? I'd really like to talk to you about all this." Kami said pulling out a small piece of paper. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind." She said as she wrote a note to Gaara saying she was about to return and with someone.

"I don't know about that." Hoshi said.

"Look if you stay here Sumiko will just come back and kill you; if you come back with me you'll be protected." Kami said leaning down to Kameko. "Kameko will you take this back to Gaara, he's probably worried sick and you travel a lot faster than I do."

"What?! Now I'm your messenger dog? I'm supposed to be this awesome ninja wolf and here I am delivering love letters, geez." Kameko said as Kami tied the note to his leg. "Fine…I guess I don't have a choice. I'll be quick." He said as he dashed off towards the hidden sand.

"I….I guess…" Hoshi said.

"Look, I'm not Sumiko, I'm not going to hurt you." Kami promised. "We really need to get going."

Hoshi looked at Kami and finally agreed to come. Traveling with Hoshi was going to take twice as long as traveling alone or with Kameko because Hoshi couldn't move as fast. For a while the trip was simply awkward, neither of them knew what to say to the other. Hoshi wanted to explain but didn't even know where to begin; surly Kami had some resentment for her mother.

"Kaminari…" Hoshi finally began.

"What?" Kami asked.

"I just want you to know that I never wanted to get rid of you. I'm going to tell you everything I can while I still have the chance." Hoshi said.

"Really? Alright I'm all ears." Kami said.

"I don't know how much you know, but my name is Hoshi Uchiha. About a year before the nine-tails attacked the hidden leaf I had an affair with the one known as the White Fang of the leaf, Sakumo Hatake. I didn't want anyone in the clan to know so instead when I found out I was pregnant I told my husband that they were his kids. The reality was they couldn't have been his kids because my husband was sterile, he just thought a miracle happened. When you kids were a few months old the nine-tails attacked and I carefully made an escape allowing everyone to assume I was dead. I just couldn't live like that anymore, my husband raising my two children from another man. I left a note with Sakumo explaining how he had twin girls and that I was moving to the hidden rain. About a month after the attack on the leaf had ended I returned to the leaf and sent another letter to Sakumo explaining how I wanted him to meet me in the forest nearby. I couldn't raise two children on my own so I brought you with me. I chickened out when he was supposed to meet me and left you there for him to find…I hadn't realized he'd killed himself so instead of your father finding you and taking you in you were just left there in the forest. When I found out your father had died I felt terrible, I had just assumed you died. I went through a short stage of depression and then once again when your sister was older it hit me again. I felt terrible, I thought I had killed one of my children, I couldn't forgive myself and I became so depressed I was barely even taking care of Sumiko. Eventually she left me and joined Orochimaru. If the fact I thought you died wasn't enough try imagining what that was like." Hoshi explained.

"So wait, why is my name different than either of my parents?" Kami asked.

"Naturally I couldn't make it Hatake, I didn't want to bring any bad fortune on him and I was worried about making it Uchiha, people might wonder where this random Uchiha came from. Aside from that if I had made it Uchiha then you might have been killed when the clan was slaughtered, though I already thought you were dead." Hoshi explained. "How did you find me anyway?"

"Itachi. Well…when my sharingan awakened I realized I must've been Uchiha but when I first met Sumiko she told me my father was the White Fang. So then I had a few leads, Kakashi's father was my father and my mother must've been an Uchiha. I had no idea where to start looking; I had already searched so many places and found nothing. Then Itachi said he remembered seeing you leave and thought he saw you in the hidden rain, but I remembered that Sumiko was wearing a hidden sound headband, so I started in the hidden rain but I couldn't gain entry so I came here, and just in time too." Kami said.

"You spoke with Itachi?!" Hoshi exclaimed.

"Yeah, I might have run into him." Kami answered.

"Did he know you were an Uchiha?" Hoshi asked.

"Yeah he figured it out, but he left before we really talked much, and now…he's dead." Kami explained.

"Oh…so then you…" Hoshi began.

"No, it was Sasuke, but that's not important. Now that you know I'm alive, and now that Sumiko destroyed your village what are you going to do?" Kami asked.

"Well I don't know. Maybe I can start making up for the 17 years you lived without me. I feel like a terrible mother, I wouldn't even begin to understand how to make it up to you." Hoshi said.

"Mom…" Kami said, it was still awkward. "Let's just start by getting something to eat when we get back."

"You think you're getting back?" Sumiko said dropping from the trees.

"You again." Kami said glaring at her.

"It's not time yet, but I just want you to know, soon, I'll be coming for you. So just be ready, because when I do I'm taking mom with me, I've got some business to finish with her." Sumiko said before disappearing again.

"We better get you back quickly. I can't risk moving this slowly anymore, she could come back any minute and she might not be alone next time, plus Kameko is gone now." Kami said.

"I'll move as fast as you need me too." Hoshi said.

"Stay directly next to me so I can see you in my peripheral vision, not behind me where I can't keep an eye on you. Let's move." Kami said dashing off, Hoshi keeping up the pace staying next to Kami.

They managed to safely enter the hidden sand a few days later and Kami was greeted as usual, everyone knew who she was now and she was referred to as Lady Kaminari, fancy title huh. Kami made her way to Gaara's office, which was always the first place she went when returning from anything. She missed him and she had to see him, besides they didn't have any sexy time before she left.

"Gaara!" She exclaimed entering his office and ignoring Kameko resting on the floor.

"Kami you're back!" He said standing up to greet her.

She wrapped his arms around him and held him tightly. "I was gone too long."

"Hey I hate to interrupt this special little moment but I'll be going now Kami." Kameko said stretching out and yawning. "See ya."

"Oh yeah…go ahead." Kami said as Kameko disappeared into smoke.

"Oh…is this the person you spoke of?" Gaara asked releasing Kami.

"Oh yeah, you won't believe it…this is my mother." Kami said gesturing to Hoshi.

"Hello Kazekage." Hoshi said bowing.

"I'm pleased to meet you and…very impressed at your level of success Kami." Gaara said surprised.

"Yeah, see I told you! Can I be jounin now?!" Kami asked hyper.

"She did save my life." Hoshi added.

"Really…" Gaara said. "I guess maybe it really is time to promote you then Kami."

"Finally." Kami said rolling her eyes.

"Alright then, Kaminari Nambake you're officially promoted to jounin." Gaara said grinning at her.

"It's about time." Kami said.

"Excuse me…but it's just that…" Hoshi trailed off.

"She needs somewhere to stay. Her village was destroyed and my twin sister is trying to kill her." Kami said bluntly.

"Oh, well she's your mother of course she can stay here. We do have that extra bedroom now." Gaara said. "Why don't you show her to it?"

"Can't you have Kankuro do it? I need to talk to you." Kami said giving him a pouty face. "Kankuro!" Kami yelled.

"Great, you're back." Kankuro said annoyed as he entered the room.

"Kankuro can you show this woman to Kami's old bedroom? She'll be staying with us." Gaara said.

"Oh…sure Gaara. This way." Kankuro said leading Hoshi out of the room.

"Alright, it's about time." Kami said closing the door. "Now where were we before I left?" Kami asked.

"I think I know." Gaara said walking up to her and placing his hands on her waist. He kissed her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he pressed her up against the wall.

That night in bed Kami couldn't sleep. She kept having terrible dreams about her mother dying or her father and how he had killed himself and those dreams only lead to worse dreams where she relived Gaara's death only Chiyo wasn't there and no one was going to save him. She jumped up yelling no and breathing heavily and Gaara was quickly awake and holding her.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I just…I've got a bad feeling about something. I think I need to go back to the hidden leaf." Kami said.

"What do you mean? What for?" he asked.

"I don't know I just…have that bad feeling. I wish you could come with me." She answered.

"Well I never said you could go, I'm just supposed to send you to the hidden leaf with no mission? You're just going because of some bad feeling? Kami I want you here." Gaara said.

"I just can't stay here, something bad is going to happen, I just know it. I have to go." Kami said.

"If it's that important to you…" Gaara said.

"It is." Kami answered looking at him.

"Well come back to bed for the night, it's…three in the morning." Gaara said lying back down.

"I'll try…" Kami said lying back down into his arms. "No more bad dreams." She whispered to herself as she closed her eyes to sleep again.

Gaara tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and kissed her once again, he didn't like it when she was like this. She would no doubt leave first thing tomorrow if she was so worried about this, so he had to make the most of the time he had left with her, who knows how long she might be gone.

"Kaminari." He said.

"Hrmm?" She moaned opening one eye.

"You know I love you." He said.

She smiled. "I love you too Gaara."

"I just worry about you…all my life all I really wanted was someone to need me, someone to want me. I've just always wanted to be able to share my feelings and emotions with someone. The anger, the fear, the happiness and sadness, I want to share all of that with you and it scares me when you leave because I worry you might not come back. I can't help but think what I would do if you didn't come back one day…I never know what to do because I can't leave to go with you." Gaara said. "Why do you think I was so hesitant to make you a jounin, being a jounin means you qualify for any type of mission, missions that risk your life."

"Yeah, but being a jounin means that I'm able to handle myself on those missions. It means I have incredible powers and it means that I'm capable of taking on those tough missions." Kami explained.

"I know…" Gaara trailed off.

"You of all people should know the things I'm capable of." Kami said running her fingers down his arm. "But I love that you worry about me."

"I can't sleep now, you say something bad is going to happen so now you're going to go to the exact place you sense trouble?" Gaara said.

"Hey, don't worry about me. I'll be just fine." Kami assured him. "If you can't sleep we could go outside, and stargaze."

"No, let's just stay in here together and sleep." Gaara said.

Kami smiled and snuggled up close to him her hands feeling his warm chest and back, it got cold at night and he was like the perfect space heater. Tomorrow marked the start of a long period of hardships, battles, and close calls, Kami just didn't realize just what kind of trouble she was about to get involved in.

Chapter 29

Hitomi was at the breakfast table in her own house reading a book when a knock on her door arrived. Shikamaru was supposed to be dealing with a mission so he was out so she wasn't sure who could be at the door. Marking and closing her book she stood up and walked to the door as the individual kept banging and banging.

"I'm coming." She said as she opened the door to see Shizune. "Oh Shizune, what is it?"

"Lady Tsunade requests your presence right away!" Shizune exclaimed.

"Oh, alright." Hitomi said. "Let's go, it sounds important."

"Yes, it is thank you." Shizune said running off with Hitomi behind her.

"Hey, what's up with Naruto? I've never seen him looking so blue." Hitomi asked as the rushed past Naruto who was standing still with his head dropped.

"Well…Lord Jiraiya has fallen in battle." Shizune explained.

"Oh no…so then Naruto knows?" Hitomi asked.

"Yes, he was just told. We request your presence because one of the bodies Lord Jiraiya defeated before his death was brought to us and it possesses the rinnegan, like you." Shizune explained.

"Woah, someone else with the rinnegan?!" Hitomi exclaimed.

"Yes, but there is more. The leader of the Akatsuki, Pain, was who Jiraiya went after, Pain is the one who possessed the rinnegan but…there were six bodies that Jiraiya fought all with the rinnegan." Shizune explained as they arrived at the door to the autopsy room. "We need you to tell us anything you can about this rinnegan."

"Of course. Well…for starters you know what it looks like. I've read up on them but experiencing the power is a lot more difficult to describe. It's just as the history states; I am able to use all six paths of pain. The deva path you have witnessed, that's my gravity control. The animal path is used to control or summon animals without having to make a pact type thing like Jiraiya and the toads. There is also the preta path which allows me to absorb chakra from attacks like ninjutsu; I'm still working on that part. The books say that the asura path allows me immense chakra and the ability to regenerate body parts but I haven't seen that one in the works yet. The next path, the human path, allows me to control all five chakra natures and learn their abilities, also every so often I can read minds. More so there are other paths, the narata and the outer paths which I have never used or even felt the ability to use. The outer path is supposed to have full control of life and death and the narata path is used to summon the outer path." Hitomi explained.

"I see, so you don't actually possess all the abilities?" Shizune asked.

"Well it's not that I don't, I may or may not, but I simply don't know how to take advantage of them. All I really know is using the rinnegan allows me to learn and copy ninjutsu just as easily as a sharingan. It's also said in the books I read that only the rinnegan is capable of reading the text on the tablet which the sage of the six paths left behind, but I don't know anything about that. I know you were hoping to find some answers on how this Pain has six bodies all with the rinnegan but I can't answer that. The rinnegan is such a legendary eye jutsu that it's hard to believe I even have it." Hitomi said shrugging.

"Hmmm, I wonder if all six bodies possess all the paths of pain." Shizune wondered aloud as she began preparing for a full autopsy on the body in front of them.

"Well it might not be a coincidence that he has six bodies for six paths." Hitomi stated. "But we can't really know anything."

"That's true, Jiraiya also left a coded message, but we don't have the key and aren't sure what it means, but perhaps that might help explain things. Lady Tsunade has just sent Shikamaru to try and figure something out."

"But isn't Shikamaru on a mission?" Hitomi asked confused.

"Yes but, you see Lady Tsunade…" Shizune trailed off.

"No no, I understand. Like Naruto right? I can imagine the pain. Well, if you need me for something else just send word, otherwise I can't do much else, I'm no medical ninja." Hitomi said.

"No you're right. Thank you for your time." Shizune said. "Perhaps you'll help Shikamaru with his decoding mission since I know he is busy on other matters and you're currently not."

Hitomi nodded and exited the room to see Tsuande dragging her feet down the hall. It was like Shikamaru and Asuma only she was taking it worse than Shikamaru had. Hitomi didn't want to disturb her so instead she headed out to find Shikamaru, the best place would be the decoding office. He was just leaving there when she arrived and he looked a bit tired.

"Shikamaru, any luck? Shizune thought you could use some help." Hitomi asked walking up to him.

"This whole thing is a drag." Shikamaru said walking up to her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "I went to Lady Tsunade's office on other matters and she hands me this. It was like she didn't even realize I was already on another mission, then when I tried to explain or talk to her Sakura just kept telling me to stop. Then I come here and they tell me they can't decode this thing because there is no key for the message." He explained.

"Just give Lady Tsunade a break." Hitomi said kissing him. "Master Jiraiya…he fell in battle, so she's a bit shaken."

Shikamaru's eyes widened. "Why didn't someone just tell me that?! Now I feel like an idiot, man I was rude."

"Don't worry about it; it's not your fault you didn't know." Hitomi said kissing him again. "If they can't decode it what are you going to do?"

"Well, they suggest I talk to someone who he might have written the message for. Lady Tsunade obviously didn't understand it otherwise I wouldn't be on this errand, so I'm off to see Kakashi sensei." Shikamaru said.

"Well then let's go." She said pulling from his arms and taking his hand. "Wouldn't want to keep lady Tsunade waiting, she's worse than your mom right?" Hitomi said smiling.

"That may be true but no one is worse than you." Shikamaru teased as they began walking.

When they finally found Kakashi sensei they handed him a picture of the numbers. "Nine, thirty-one, eight, one hundred and six, seven, two hundred and seven, fifteen." Kakashi said reading the numbers off.

"Does anything come to mind at all? Did any of these numbers come up in a conversation with Jiraiya that you can recall?" Shikamaru asked.

Kakashi stopped in his tracks. "This one, one hundred and six."

"Really, what about? What significance does it have?" Hitomi asked.

"No, that's not it, never mind, nothing is coming to me. Why don't you try lady Tsunade or Naruto next?" Kakashi asked.

"I already talked to Lady Tsunade about it." Shikamaru said sighing.

"Well I guess that leaves Naruto then huh?" Hitomi said.

"Aside from the code I'm also worried about him, do what you can to cheer him up." Kakashi said.

"I will, but don't get your hopes up too high." Shikamaru said as he walked off with Hitomi. "Well that was a dead end."

"Relax, it makes most sense that he would've written the code for Naruto anyway right? Don't give up just yet." Hitomi said. "Let's head to his house."

Arriving at Naruto's house Shikamaru pressed the doorbell, once, twice, three times, and four. "Terrific, he's not home." Shikamaru said annoyed.

Just then the door creaked open slowly and Naruto peaked around the corner. "Hey Shikamaru, what's up? What do you want?" Naruto asked depressed, all the lights were off inside.

"Well for starters, how about letting us come in." Shikamaru said.

Naruto just walked back to his bedroom leaving the door open for them to enter. Naruto's room along with the rest of his house was a complete mess; it seemed like he hadn't done anything but lie in his bed and mope for a good while. Shikamaru handed him the photograph of the numbers and he and Hitomi sat on the floor.

"Do any of those numbers mean anything to you?" Shikamaru asked, but Naruto sat silent. "Hey, Naruto, you still with me or what?" Shikamaru asked again, but still Naruto sat silent and emotionless. "Naruto!" Shikamaru yelled and Hitomi jumped a little.

"Oh right, sorry." Naruto said jumping back to reality. "So uh, what'd you say?"

"Oh god." Hitomi said dropping her head.

"Alright, you're coming with me, let's go." Shikamaru said standing and helping Hitomi up.

"To where?" Naruto asked.

"Just come on." Shikamaru answered

"Is it that time?" Hitomi asked.

"Yeah, I can't be late, I promised." Shikamaru explained as he exited the house, Hitomi directly behind him and Naruto dragging his feet behind her.

"What? The Hospital, why did you bring me here?" Naruto asked when they arrived.

"Just wait." Shikamaru said just as the front door opened. "Ah, there she is."

"Kurenai sensei?!" Naruto yelled as Kurenai exited the hospital.

"That's right." Shikamaru answered.

"Were you hospitalized for eating too much barbeque?! Your stomach is bigger than Choji's!" Naruto yelled.

"She's pregnant not overweight you idiot. Oh boy, you're still just as obnoxious as you ever were." Shikamaru said dropping his head.

"So then, you mean she's…" Naruto trailed off.

"Shikamaru, you know, you don't have to come every time." Kurenai said.

"Sorry, no can do, Asuma made me promise him." Shikamaru said and Kurenai just smiled and made her way back home.

"Shikamaru, what did Asuma sensei ask you to do?" Naruto asked.

"Their child will be my student." Shikamaru said and Naruto just gasped. "I'm being serious, he entrusted me with that…I heard about Master Jiraiya." Shikamaru continued. "Having lost my teacher just like you I understand exactly what you're going through right now, but whining and sulking won't make things better. Face it; both of us are way past that point in our lives."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Asuma sensei imparted a lot of knowledge to me. Some lessons were important, some not so much but it didn't matter. The same for you right? An infinite number of priceless things, so I think it's time for us to step up." Shikamaru said looking back at Hitomi.

"How so?" Naruto asked.

"It's time to stop being students and become teachers. It's going to be a drag, but we can't keep complaining. Eventually you'll be the one paying for the ramen and someone will be calling you Naruto sensei, after all we can't stay brats forever. Not if we want to become cool shinobi, like the type of shinobi that Asuma and Jiraiya both were. Look at Hitomi; she's already surpassed us both in rank, along with Temari and some of the others like Neji and Gaara too. Do we really want to be shown up by some girls?" Shikamaru asked.

"You're right Shikamaru." Naruto said. "Thank you."

"Then pull yourself together, because we've got some work to do." Hitomi said holding up the picture of the numbers again.

Naruto took the picture and they all made their way back to the decryption office where a girl, Shiho, was waiting for word from Shikamaru. For a while Naruto just looked at the pictures, the numbers, not saying anything. Hitomi was beginning to wonder if they would ever figure out what Jiraiya was trying to say.

"You've been really quiet for a while now, don't you notice anything?" Hitomi asked.

"Uh…" Naruto said rubbing his head.

"We talked to Lady Tsunade and Kakashi sensei. They had no clue so I'm guessing Jiraiya wrote this message specifically with you in mind. No, I'm positive he did, I'm sure, there's just got to be something there." Shikamaru said.

"Please tell us anything that comes to your mind, anything at all. It's not like we're asking you to instantly decode the message." Shiho said.

"There is one thing that's been bothering me since I saw it." Naruto finally said.

"Well spit it out already." Hitomi growled.

"Well there all those numbers right? So why is there one katakana letter among all them?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru, Hitomi and the other woman all gasped. "Katakana letter?" Shiho asked.

"Where do you see that?" Shikamaru asked.

"Right here." Naruto said pointing to the nine.

"What are you talking about? Isn't that just the number nine?" Hitomi asked.

"That's what I thought at first but no. Look at it again, it's not a number at all, it's a katakana letter for the sound ta." Naruto explained.

"Well yeah, I suppose you could interpret it that way but it's still a big stretch." Shikamaru said.

"Well maybe, but frankly what makes you think it's the katakana letter ta instead of the number nine anyway?" Shiho asked adjusting her glasses.

"Well, you know pervy sage, always writing books." Naruto said. "I mean, he was a writer after all and I traveled all over with him. Wherever we went he always made me read his handwritten drafts and asked me what I thought about them. They were really boring though. Anyway whenever he used the letter ta it was hard to read because it looked like the number nine to me."

"It's a penmanship quirk." Shiho said.

"So, it was a habit then?" Shikamaru said pulling out a pencil. "Whenever lord Jiraiya wrote the katakana letter ta he had a habit for drawing the first stroke shorter than it was supposed to be and the first and third strokes would connect and since he rounds his second stroke the whole thing end up looking like a nine."

"Jiraiya planned all this then; he knew that Naruto would remember this habit of his, that he wrote the katakana letter like a nine." Hitomi said.

"Ah!" Shikamaru yelled slamming his hand on the table. "Naruto why didn't you mention such an important thing like this sooner?!"

"What's the big deal about knowing that it's the letter ta?" Naruto asked confused.

Shikamaru placing his hands over his face and shook his head for a second. "Wait…that's it. It was back when you were reading Jiraiya's manuscripts, that was it, that was when you found out about his writing habit." Shikamaru said turning to face Naruto again. "The code must refer to the book you were reading!"

"Yes! That's exactly right Shikamaru, it must be! I believe that more clues must be hidden somewhere inside his writing as well." Shiho said.

"The rest of the numbers probably represent page numbers, or number of lines or even word order." Hitomi said.

"Naruto, which book were you reading?!" Shikamaru demanded.

"Ummm…make out something…I'm not sure which one." Naruto said.

"How many of his books have been published?" Shikamaru asked.

"I dunno, four or five maybe?" Naruto answered rubbing his chin.

"Good, that's not too many we'll just have to check them all." Shikamaru said.

"It's probably this one." Kakashi said peaking in through the window with the third make out tactics book that had the letter ta on the cover. "It's been on my mind so I decided to pop in when I overheard your voices. I think I caught most of it, I'm pretty sure this is the book you're looking for." Kakashi said waving the book.

"Yeah, make out tactics. That's the book pervy sage had been working on the whole time during out training." Naruto agreed.

"Of course, it's something else only Naruto would've known." Shikamaru said. "Just as I thought, Lord Jiraiya did pass the key to Naruto."

"Hey, for the record, speaking with Naruto wasn't your idea." Hitomi said.

"This ta is the first character in the code, of all Jiraiya's books this is the only title with a word that begins with ta." Kakashi said.

"Alright then. If we have the right book then the rest of the numbers would indicate word placement or line number but the first thing we should look at is page numbers. The rest of the numbers are thirty one, eight, one hundred and six, seven, two hundred and seven, and fifteen. So that would mean there could be six pages of information." Hitomi said.

"Yes, so let's start with page thirty one." Shiho said.

"Okay here is it, page 31." Kakashi said. "What now?"

"First we should look at the first letter or word of the page, please read the first sentence out loud." Shiho said.

"What?!" Kakashi exclaimed sweat beading onto his face. "Uh….well…uh…" he tried focusing as the pages blurred in his vision. "Uh…no I mean uh…"

"Look, what's the problem just hurry up and read it already!" Naruto yelled.

"Heh…" Kakashi said nervously as he blushed and shied away.

"Come on spit it out would you!" Naruto yelled as Kakashi's whole face began turning read and beads of sweat ran down it.

"Really, I…" Kakashi trailed off his eyes watering. "Love you…" he finally said.

"Finally." Hitomi said rolling her eyes. "Alright next line."

"What?! I have to read more?" Kakashi asked and sighed as he flipped to the next page.

By the time they had finished writing down all the information Kakashi was too embarrassed to move and Shikamaru's face was blank, what had he gotten himself into?

"There, now we have all six pages done." Shiho said.

"What does it say?" Naruto asked.

"If I read the first character from the page of the book in order, the real one's not among them, that's what it says." Shiho answered.

"The real one?" Hitomi asked.

"What does that mean?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"No idea…" Shikamaru said.

"We outta relay this to Lord Fukasaku right away." Kakashi said. "Perhaps it will mean something to him since he fought Pain to." Kakashi said.

"_Fukasaku_?" Hitomi wondered, well it couldn't have been that important.

"Then let's go ask lady Tsunade to summon this lord Fukasaku right away." Shikamaru said.

"May I come with you as well?" Shiho asked.

"Yeah, sure please do Shiho." Shikamaru said.

Hitomi glared at Shiho. "_I'm watching you_." She thought to herself.

"Then let's do this, we gotta tell grandma Tsunade what we found out!" Naruto yelled.

"The real one's not among them…" Fukasaku said reading the decryption.

"Geezer sage, what do you think? Does it mean something to you?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not sure; it's still all unclear to me." Fukasaku said.

"But you do have some hypothesis don't you right?" Shikamaru asked,

"I've already told you absolutely everything I know about pain." Fukasaku said. "He seems to be able to come back from the dead so I hesitate to give you mere conjectures. Under these conditions it's still too dangerous to take him on; we must first uncover his secrets."

"How long are the other investigations taking? Like the autopsy?" Hitomi asked.

"Well, it looks as if they're going to take a little bit longer." Sakura said from behind Tsunade.

"Well how much longer?!" Naruto demanded.

"I can't say. I'm not sure that they even know." Sakura said shrugging.

"What?! What do you mean?! While their goofing around we're losing time!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto calm down, an autopsy takes time. It's a very careful and detailed process involving all sorts of things like cell and tissue analysis. It's all very complicated and it takes a long time." Hitomi said.

"I didn't know you knew that type of stuff Hitomi." Sakura said.

"Just because I can't perform medical ninjutsu doesn't mean I don't know about it." Hitomi explained.

"It'll take a week at the soonest before it's all done." Tsunade said.

"That long?" Naruto grumbled dropping his head.

"So what should we do in the meantime Lady Tsunade?" Shikamaru asked.

"We'll just have to wait." Tsuande said shrugging.

"No, I'll make them go faster!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto, if you get in the way you'll only slow things down." Hitomi explained.

"Well…" Naruto said crumpling the decrypted message in his hand. "I will avenge pervy sage. I can't just sit around here doing nothing."

"Naruto boy, you know you don't possess the power to defeat Pain. You know I'm right, if Jiraiya boy couldn't defeat him do you really think you can do it? I came here to ask you to train in sage jutsu." Fukasaku said.

"Sage jutsu? Is it really that amazing?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, Lord Jiraiya was the only one capable of performing it in the hidden lead." Kakashi said.

"To be honest, if Pain defeated Jiraiya and Lord Fukasaku and Lady Shima, that means…the only person in this village with a chance of defeating pain is Hitomi simply because she also possesses the rinnegan…" Tsunade said.

"No way am I letting her be the one to take Pain down!" Naruto yelled. "Let's do it then!"

"Good luck then Naruto, I don't want to be the only one left to deal with Pain." Hitomi said. "Everyone could use some help." Naruto nodded and he and Fukasaku disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "I guess I better get to work, if Naruto is the only chance we have savior aside from me I better not get my hopes up. Shikamaru?"

"Oh yeah…I'm sure I'm the one you want to train with?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well of course!" Hitomi answered taking his hand and walking to the door of Tsunade's office.

Chapter 30

"Lady Tsunade!" A jounin yelled running into her office right past Hitomi and Shikamaru.

"What is it? Did you find something out about Pain?!" Tsunade asked standing up.

"No malady, but…several of our ninja were found dead outside the village. Anko was there, left alive. She claims it was…Kaminari Nambake ma'am." The jounin said.

"What?! No that's ridiculous; Kami would never do such a thing!" Hitomi yelled angrily.

"But Hitomi…if it was Anko…" Shikamaru argued.

"How dare you! She would never!" Hitomi growled at him.

"I'm just saying, if Anko said it we can't rule out the possibility." Shikamaru said rubbing his head. "We better see what Anko has to say."

Kami had left the hidden sand and was quickly making her way to the hidden leaf. That bad feeling in her gut was only getting worse. She had to hurry, the hidden lead might be in trouble, she just didn't realize how much. She also hadn't realized just how much trouble she was going to be in soon. Without knowing what awaited her she has entered the land of fire and was within the perimeters of the hidden leaf.

"Stop right there!" A chunin yelled throwing several kunai at Kami's feet.

Kami gasped. "What's this?"

"I have orders to take you into custody, and permission to use violent force if needed." The chunin said.

"Woah there is no need for violence." Kami said. "What is going on here?"

"You should know, you're the one who killed three of our men." Another chunin said.

"What?! I didn't do anything like that!" Kami argued.

"Enough of your lies! Now you can either come with us silently, or we can do this the hard way." The chunin yelled.

"Now just hold on a second, now I didn't do anything wrong!" Kami yelled.

"The hard way it is then." The chunin said pulling kunai and rushing at her.

"You jerks!" Kami yelled throwing up an earth wall which the chunin leader ran into. "I'm not here to fight, but I will if you're going to attack me."

A chunin ran up behind her and attempted another attack. She blocked and kicked the chunin back as she pulled a kunai. She didn't want to kill any of them so she stuck to basic attacks, their chunin level rank attacks were easy to dodge and deflect, she had no issues.

"Will you all knock it off?! I'll come with you the easy way!" Kami finally said and all the chunin ceased attack, but stayed on guard.

"Good, take her." The lead chunin said.

Kami didn't remember anything after that until she awoke tied to a chair in the interrogation room. "Where am I?" she asked, she'd never been in that room before.

"I'll be asking the questions." Tsunade said entering the room. "Tell me, why did you do it Kaminari?"

"Do what?" Kami asked confused.

"You killed those three ninja didn't you?!" Tsunade yelled.

"No! I didn't do anything of the sort!" Kami argued.

"Then why did you attack those chunin?! Don't make up lies! Why did you do it?!" Tsunade yelled again.

"Hey they attacked me first!" Kami argued.

"Stop it! Stop it Lady Tsunade, she didn't do it! She wouldn't!" Hitomi yelled running in-between Tsunade and Kami.

"Hitomi get out of the way! You can't let emotions get in the way of your missions remember?!" Tsunade yelled.

"I'm not! I know Kami didn't do it!" Hitomi argued.

"Hitomi move out of the way now!" Tsunade yelled.

"Hitomi…" Shikamaru begged.

"That's enough!" Anko yelled entering the room. "That's not her, that's not the same woman."

"But Anko, you said…and you would know…" A jounin said.

"Lady Tsuande, forgive me, I know what I said but I also know what I saw. I'm telling you it's not the same girl." Anko repeated.

"See! I told you!" Kami yelled.

"I knew it, but Anko sensei if you thought it was Kami at first then…" Hitomi began.

"I don't know who it was, but it wasn't Kami, not if this is the real Kami." Anko said walking over to Kami and releasing her binding.

"I know." Kami said. "I know who did it."

"What?! So you had something to do with it then?!" Tsunade yelled raising her fist.

"No! No I swear!" Kami said waving her hands in front of her. "I just know who did it because I've met her before! She's…my twin sister."

"Your what?" Tsunade asked confused.

"It's kind of a long story but…basically I have a twin sister who used to work for Orochimaru and now she's trying to kill me and my mother." Kami explained.

"Your mom?" Hitomi asked confused.

"That's a long story too…" Kami said.

"Explain." Tsunade ordered.

"Well…" Kami began as she relayed the recent events. "So that's the gist of it, and now she's probably here attacking the hidden leaf just to get back at me."

"I see…so then…she might still be lingering around and no one knows. Shikamaru go tell the guards immediately." Tsunade ordered.

"Oh, uh okay…" Shikamaru said leaving swiftly.

"We need to send out a squad to find this Sumiko…" Tsunade said biting her nail. "Hitomi, I want you to take team Hitomi out in search of her. Find her and use whatever force necessary. I don't need her alive."

"Of course, but what about Kami?" Hitomi asked.

"I still don't have authority to assign her to any missions." Tsuande said.

"Then I give myself permission. I'm here simply to investigate any issues that might arise here and to help take care of them." Kami explained. "Me going with them would be part of my mission."

"If you two are going, be very careful. She has some type of special jutsu, something I've never seen before. All I know is that by the end of the battle we had with her, all my comrades seemed to have killed themselves while she just stood there watching." Anko explained.

"It could be some kind of genjutsu." Hitomi said.

"Well whatever it is, be careful and leave right away. Find Ino and Choji." Tsunade said.

"Right, let's go Kami." Hitomi said exiting the interrogation room with Kami following right behind her.

"Team Hitomi huh?" Kami asked. "When did that happen?"

"Right after you left the last time. Tsunade made me jounin and assigned me to take over team Asuma." Hitomi explained rushing towards Ino's house.

"So then, you must be close with Ino and Choji now." Kami said.

"Not really, we've only been on one mission together so far and I wasn't the leader then. Tsunade hasn't assigned us any team missions just yet, nothing that serious has happened. Well until now." Hitomi said knocking on Ino's door.

"Oh, Hitomi. What's up?" Ino asked answering.

"Good, you're home. Tsunade is sending us out on a mission right away. There is a rogue ninja out there that we need to take care of. Get ready and meet me by the front gate as soon as you can." Hitomi said.

"Right away Hitomi." Ino said hurrying to get ready.

"Now to Choji's." Hitomi said rushing to Choji's house quickly. "He better be home." She said knocking on his door but no one answered. Hitomi sighed. "Plan B I guess."

"What's plan B?" Kami asked.

"Just this." Hitomi said pulling out a bag of chips and opening them. "Their barbeque, help yourself."

"Chips?" Kami asked.

"Just help me eat." Hitomi said as she began eating the chips. Kami shrugged and gladly ate the chips, not sure how this was benefitting the mission. When they finally got down to the last chip Hitomi looked into the bag and waited. Kami reached in in an attempt to take the last chip when Choji suddenly burst out of the house and snatched the bag and the chip.

"Even for a small bag of chips I refuse to allow someone the last bite!" Choji said placing the chip in his mouth.

"See, plan B. Shikamaru told me." Hitomi said. "Hey Choji, sorry to interrupt but we've got a mission ahead of us. Get ready and meet me at the front gate as soon as you can okay?" Hitomi said.

"Oh…anything for the last chip." Choji said rushing inside to get ready.

"Alright Kami, let's get Shikamaru and head out, but first…" Hitomi trailed off.

"What?" Kami asked.

"If this Sumiko is after you then are you sure you really want to go?" Hitomi asked.

"Yeah? I'm not going to endanger you and everyone else and then not do anything about it." Kami said.

"Figures." Hitomi said. "Now then, let's get Shikamaru and begin."

After they found Shikamaru they headed to the front gate and waited for Ino and Choji to arrive. The two of them didn't take long to make their way to the gates as well, and as they arrived they all turned towards Hitomi and awaited orders. Hitomi may not have been Asuma and she may not have been any older than the rest of them, but she was their team captain and she normally knew what she was doing.

Last time her squirrels and birds worked wonders; there was no reason to waste time searching in person. Hitomi bit her thumbs and placed her hands on the ground summoning her squirrels and birds to search the forest, fast and inconspicuous. Ino screamed as they ran under her feet and flew over her head, she was no doubt worried she was going to get pooped on. Hitomi shook her head and kept her hands on the ground until all her companions were summoned and went their separate ways.

"Alright team, now listen up. A woman name Sumiko has killed several of our best shinobi. Our mission is to find her and destroy her. Now this mission may be a bit difficult because this girl is Kami's twin sister; however Sumiko has much shorter hair and different clothes than Kami. This doesn't mean that she won't assume some type of transformation just that makes her look like Kami. Now, let's all try and stick together shall we?" Hitomi said. "Once one of my summons returns with information we'll head out. Until then I'll try searching and all of you keep on guard. If they don't come back within a few minutes we'll be on our own."

"That's an interesting search method." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah so cool!" Choji agreed.

"It's just fast and easy, but it's only useful for a small circular radius around me. Following someone's scent is usually the best approach if traveling longer distances, but in this case we don't know hardly anything about Sumiko except that she might still be close to here, so this method should work unless she either has left the vicinity or…unless she catches on to my systems." Hitomi said.

"Hey look." Ino said as a bird and squirrel returned but from opposite directions.

"What? There are two?" Hitomi said as the summons relayed the information. "Which one is Sumiko?" but they animals weren't sure. "Are they both threats? Hmmm… It seems as if Sumiko isn't alone and whoever she brought with her has used a transformation jutsu to look like Sumiko. It could just be a clone, but the animals sense otherwise. If that's the case then we need to deal with both of them."

"What are we going to do?" Kami asked.

"We'll split up into two groups. Shikamaru you'll lead the second group, with Ino and Choji. Kami and I will make up the other group. Keep Ino alive, understand? She's the only medical ninja we've got." Hitomi said.

"Understood." Shikamaru said. "We'll take the right."

"And Kami and I will take the left, follow the animals, they'll lead you there, but be on guard it could be a trap." Hitomi said. "Good luck."

Shikamaru nodded at them and jumped off into the woods followed by Ino and Choji. Hitomi and Kami jumped off in the opposite direction. They followed the bird for a while before it began circling in the distance, it seemed almost too easy to find her. Hitomi wondered if Sumiko had been waiting for them, she probably knew someone would come looking for her.

"Alright Kami, you go to the right, I'll go to the left, and we'll try and flank her and…" Hitomi stopped mid-sentence. "What is that?"

"What?" Kami asked confused.

"Look out!" Hitomi yelled as a giant ram rushed through the forest and smashed into Kami, pinning her into the tree behind her and knocking her out. "Kami!" Hitomi yelled. "Well, all the more reason to take this bitch out now, sorry Kami, looks like I'm stealing your thunder." Hitomi said jumping through the trees to see another Kami, well Sumiko, standing there.

"I should've known there would be others besides her." Sumiko said. "But that's alright; you look like an easy one to deal with."

"What was that?! By the end of this battle you'll wish you hadn't spoken those words." Hitomi said unsheathing her sword.

"I doubt that." Sumiko said. "You'll get careless and underestimate me, but you see so matter what anyone has told you no one has witnessed my true power yet. I've just recently perfected this jutsu."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I doubt your jutsu can outperform mine." Hitomi said performing hand signs. She was going to test out that new jutsu she learned when battling the Akatsuki the last time. "Fire style, searing migraine!" She yelled swinging her sword out. A small fireball flew out at first and Sumiko laughed performing some hand signs. "This attack is unavoidable." Hitomi said. "Wind style, pressure damage." She whispered as a tornado like mass formed in her hand creating an extremely high density.

She threw the dense tornado at the small fireball causing it to explode into a fierce firestorm, but it wasn't as she expected. Hitomi gasped at the storm seemed to switch directions and instead flew backwards at her. She attempted to throw up her barrier to protect herself because as she had stated before this attack was almost entirely unblockable, however her barrier didn't work either and she was inevitable caught up in the fierce firestorm.

When the storm receded Hitomi lay on the ground motionless, she should've been dead with how severe the burns on her body were most of her clothes had been burned away as well. If she hadn't been in such skimpy clothes she would've no doubt been disintegrated. Clothes work like the wick in a candle, they are like a catalyst to the fire intensifying and speeding up its destruction. The pain across her body was so intense it was almost numbing.

Sumiko sighed and walked over to Hitomi. "I told you, you got careless and underestimated me didn't you? This is only the beginning of your pain."

Chapter 31

"Oh, thanks for those new jutsu. That barrier I think could be quite useful." Sumiko said.

"What?" Hitomi asked.

"Oh, well since you're going to die I suppose I can explain. You see, this jutsu of mine that you're currently stuck in…well it works like a mirror. When you cast a jutsu it simply backfires on you. So your barrier jutsu actually was protecting me from the firestorm that you actually hit yourself with. It's something new I've been working on; I don't have a name for it just yet though. It's quite useful, but it's rather boring. Everyone winds up killing themselves and it's unfair that I don't get to have any fun. Oh yeah, and then any jutsu you use inside my jutsu gets implanted into my chakra memory and I actually learn the jutsu as well." Sumiko explained. "Well, at least that's the short version."

"I see…" Hitomi muttered. "I was…careless then…"

"Of course you were, and you're a pest; I think maybe I will put you out of your misery." Sumiko said as she held the kunai over Hitomi's heart. "Last words?"

"Get off of her!" Kami yelled, her mangekyou sharingan staring down Sumiko.

Kami watched as Sumiko plunged the kunai into Hitomi's chest, but less than a second later Kami utilized her mangekyou. Time flowed backwards as Sumiko removed the kunai from Hitomi's chest and walked backwards as the firestorm repapered. Kami slowly began feeling slight pain in her eyes as they blurred. She attempted to push forward wanting to rewind time long enough to save Hitomi from the fire blast but as soon as she took a step forward her mangekyou ceased to work and the firestorm overtook Hitomi once more.

Kami jumped through the flames and tackled Hitomi out of the firestorm rolling them across the ground to put out their clothes before Kami was burned as well. Hitomi lay on the ground motionless as Kami released her and hovered over her. Her burns were severe but Kami had managed to remove her from the flames sooner than before, she had a chance to survive this time.

"Kami…" Hitomi moaned.

"Don't talk. Just let me handle this." Kami said. "I know her secrets."

"But…" Hitomi argued.

"Hey, you've always had my back. I know how this jutsu of hers works…it's more powerful than I thought, it even canceled out my sharingan." Kami said.

"What?" Hitomi asked.

"Apparently any jutsu you use inside this jutsu of hers gets backfired, plus she gains the ability to use the jutsu as well." Kami said.

"So…my barrier? My firestorm? Your sharingan, and my rinnegan." Hitomi asked.

"No!" Sumiko yelled. "Unfortunately ocular jutsu cannot be learned this way, but…" Sumiko trailed off "did you say rinnegan?"

"So…she can't learn our ocular jutsu but she can cancel it out." Kami said.

"Kami…" Hitomi said grabbing Kami's shirt. "You are the only one…if she knows my barrier jutsu…you're the only one with enough power to break it."

"But, no one's ever broken that jutsu." Kami said.

"No, you're wrong. That's how I almost died last time…you just need enough force behind the blow and it'll break through." Hitomi explained. "If she's learned my jutsu, plus who knows what else, and we can't use our own ninjutsu and we don't know genjutsu…then…there's only taijutsu."

"Hitomi!" Shikamaru exclaimed dropping down beside her along with Ino and Choji.

"Here, I'll perform emergency medical aid!" Ino yelled.

"No don't! If you do, not only will it not work you'll heal the enemy!" Kami exclaimed grabbing Ino's wrist. "You've got to get her out of here, let me handle this."

"No, you can't do this alone." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, come on I want to help to!" Choji exclaimed.

"You three already fought the other enemy right? It's my turn now, plus Hitomi already said I'm the only one who can make it past that barrier of hers." Kami said.

"Enough talk!" Sumiko said. "I didn't come here to babble, I want a fight."

"Alright then, a fight you want, a fight you get." Kami said getting up. "Get Hitomi out of here." Kami said. "Now! Do it before she's dead you idiots! Do I really have to tell you I out rank you all?!" Kami glared at them.

"Alright then…" Shikamaru said and quickly picked up Hitomi. "Don't get yourself killed." He dragged Ino and Choji off a good distance.

"Let's do this then. You're giving me a bad reputation and I'm getting real sick of your shit. You're real annoying." Kami said cracking her knuckles.

"Well that's better." Sumiko said readying herself. "Let's see what power Orochimaru's next vessel holds."

"You're really stupid. I told you already, Orochimaru is dead." Kami said.

"That's a lie! Now, how about I test out that new jutsu I just learned." Sumiko said. "That girl did say it was unblockable."

"Oh no…" Kami said.

"Hey Choji…" Shikamaru said as he stopped and carefully placed Hitomi on the ground.

"Yeah Shikamaru?" Choji asked.

"We really shouldn't have left Kami back there, go check on her. Just make sure she's handling herself alright and if need be step in." Shikamaru ordered.

"Sure thing Shikamaru!" Choji exclaimed running off back to Kami.

Ino just looked at Shikamaru as she placed her hands over Hitomi. "Is someone jealous?" she asked.

"What?! Jealous, what are you talking about?" Shikamaru asked nervously.

"You told Choji to leave because of how tattered Hitomi's clothes are didn't you? You didn't want Choji to see her this revealed." Ino said.

"What, that' not true, it was for the good of the mission. Kami can't handle that girl on her own, just look at Hitomi." Shikamaru said.

"Maybe so, but the reality is you don't want anyone else to see Hitomi on display like this." Ino said.

"Well I mean…" Shikamaru hesitated.

"Shikamaru just admit it, everyone knows you're in love with her even if you try not to show it when people are around. You're just like Asuma sensei and Kurenai sensei." Ino explained. "It's okay Shikamaru, you're dealing with Ino."

Shikamaru dropped his head to see Hitomi's charred body, most of her body was revealed, her clothing having been burned away. He sighed as he watched Hitomi struggle to breath, in this condition she wouldn't last more than another day; they had to get her to a hospital. Quickly he picked Hitomi up and headed towards the village, Ino's emergency medical ninjutsu wouldn't save Hitomi's life.

Sumiko sent out a fireball from one hand and a condensed tornado from the other smashing them together to create a second firestorm. Kami flipped backwards attempting to create a water wall knowing full well that it would probably backfire and protect Sumiko instead. However, Sumiko's jutsu had to have limits just like any other jutsu, and Kami had already found the boundaries when she had used her sharingan.

Just barely in time Kami exited the jutsu's dome and created a water wall in front of her, however the fire having been amplified with the wind jutsu increased its power and evaporated the water in an instant. Somehow Kami had to get within striking distance of Sumiko, unable to use jutsu of her own and having to keep an eye on all the jutsu known by her sister. She couldn't be reckless this time, this time it was Hitomi's life and the leaf village on the line, but before she could do anything she had to escape this firestorm. Moments later Kami was yanked out of the way just in time and turned to see Choji having used his expansion jutsu to reach her and pull her away.

"Oh…gee thanks Choji." Kami said hesitantly. "Just stay back here out of the range of her jutsu. I've got this now."

"Sure thing!" Choji agreed.

Kami hesitated only a moment before dashing towards Sumiko. Sumiko's number of jutsu was just as incredible as Kami or Hitomi, she might just become known as a better copy ninja than Kakashi was. Water dragons, fireballs, even some jutsu that Anko used with snakes. Kami couldn't find a way to get close, Sumiko had too many jutsu and without Kami being able to use her own jutsu, especially her sharingan she felt totally lost. She tried throwing kunai but with Sumiko knowing Hitomi's barrier jutsu every attempt was a failure just like the last.

"Are you having trouble?" Sumiko asked.

Kami grinned, Sumiko had been using so much chakra, and even if her chakra levels equaled someone like Naruto she had to be getting low, this jutsu she was using had to take up chakra continuously. As long as Kami kept dodging her attacks Sumiko would get tired eventually, and run out of chakra. Kami could already see it happening, Sumiko's reaction speeds had slowed, Kami was getting closer to her with each try. Her plan was nothing special but it would be effective.

"Looks like I could use some help." Kami said biting her thumb and placing her hand on the ground. She thought for a moment, if she summoned Kameko inside Sumiko's jutsu Kameko would still summon just in a mirror image of his normal location. Just because Kameko summoned across from her didn't mean he would summon as a servant to Sumiko, Kameko was attached to Kami through their souls and their spirits. That was when Kami got an idea.

"Go ahead, use that summoning jutsu, and for your sake I hope it's something small and useless." Sumiko said.

"Summoning jutsu" Kami said as Kameko summoned behind Sumiko. Kami had gotten the hang of this jutsu now, by summoning Kameko directly behind her he instead appeared behind Sumiko, right where she wanted him. "Attack now!" Kami yelled.

Kameko was a little taken off guard at first but jumped at Sumiko sinking his teeth into her neck. Sumiko reached back and grabbed Kameko by the nape of his neck and just before she swung to hit him in the face he released her and kicked her forward. Sumiko released him and quickly turned around to see Kami almost close enough to hit and quickly Sumiko placed up the barrier she had learned from Hitomi.

Kami clenched her fist tight and fused her chakra into her armor gauntlet. Recently she had the gauntlet remade with a special type of metal that absorbed and amplified chakra. She yelled as she swung her fist forward as hard as she could and smashed it into the barrier. Slowly the barrier gave to her fist, forming around it until it cracked and as Kami applied more force smashed and dispersed.

Sumiko gasped and turned to run only to see Kameko sitting in front of her just waiting for his moment to make a move. Sumiko hesitated too long and Kami grabbed her by the collar of her shirt tossing her to the ground and sitting on her back, digging her knees into Sumiko's shoulder blades. Sumiko struggled to move but Kami only pressed her knees into Sumiko's back harder, and smashed Sumiko's face into the ground.

"Now, I didn't search for three years for nothing you hear me? Now I found my mother and I intend to protect her, and I found you and I intend to kill you. It's simple, you killed my friend…well you did kill her but I fixed that." Kami said.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Sumiko began.

"I'm doing the talking!" Kami yelled rubbing Sumiko's face in the ground. "Now, I'm going to give you two options but only one is the right one, if you pick wrong I'll just kill you. So you either you walk away forever and never come back ever again, or I'll just kill you right here right now."

"I'll leave I swear!" Sumiko yelled.

"I'm sorry I was looking for the 'I'll just kill you now' answer. Sorry." Kami said flipping Sumiko over and smashing her fist into her face over and over, breaking Sumiko's nose and jaw along with fracturing her skull in several places.

"Yerg a derde burth" Sumiko tried but settled for spitting blood in Kami's face.

Kami wiped the blood from her face and pulled a kunai. "Say your goodbyes." Kami said sinking the kunai into Sumiko's eye piercing it through her brain violently.

"A bit much don't you think?" Kameko asked.

"Psh, no. This bitch…hey don't judge me okay." Kami said turning to see Choji still standing there. "Hey…uh Choji…go tell the guards about her body. They might want to examine it."

"Right…" Choji said running off.

"Come on Kameko. Let's just go make sure Hitomi is alright." Kami said wiping her gauntlet off on Sumiko's clothes.

"Uh…yeah okay?" Kameko said following her. "So…you're welcome."

"What?!" Kami exclaimed. "You're welcome?!"

"Yeah, see I told you, you need me." Kameko said.

"Please, I could've done that without you, it was just faster with you. You're just…an assistant, you're like a sidekick." Kami said looking at Kameko.

"You mean you're the sidekick. I'm the hero; you know what they say after all. The hero always saves the day at the last minute." Kameko said prancing beside her.

"What?! No, that's dumb. I'm the hero, without me you'd just be a plain old wolf; you'd probably have been hunted by now." Kami said.

"Oh, I beg to differ." Kameko said. "Oh oh Kami, try summoning me again!"

"What? Why?" Kami asked confused.

"Just do it!" Kameko ordered.

Kami sighed "Fine." she agreed biting her thumb again and placing her hand on the ground. When she summoned Kameko a second time a dog appeared, but not Kameko, this was a black dog with brown paws and a white patch on its back and tail. "Who's this?" Kami asked confused.

"This is Miya." Kameko said walking up to her.

"Oh! Kameko, is this the girl?" Miya asked, she had a bit of a high pitched voice and Kami found it rather annoying.

"What is she doing here?" Kami asked annoyed.

"She's my girlfriend, and I thought you might like to meet her." Kameko said.

Kami held in a laugh. "Woah woah woah, wait a minute. You have a girlfriend?"

"Of course he does, all the girls love him, I mean isn't he just wonderful?" Miya asked.

"He's a dog, who licks his dick, rolls in the mud, pees on people, humps the air, and is a complete moronic pain in the ass. How could anyone possibly like this mutt?" Kami asked as she began walking back towards the village again.

"Well, he's sexy. He's gorgeous, he's…got a perfect coat…" Miya said.

"So, he's good looking for a dog…" Kami said.

"Miya you're killing me here babe." Kameko said dropping his head.

"I think I might be starting to like her." Kami said grinning.

"Well…he's charming, and…he's uh pretty powerful. He's the only wolf that knows jutsu like that." Miya explained. "And he's uh… he has those sweet moments."

"Sweet?! Where am I for these moments?!" Kami asked.

"Where am I for your sweet moments? There has to be some if Gaara likes you…or maybe he just likes being beaten." Kameko accused.

"I don't beat Gaara!" Kami argued glaring at Kameko.

"Now you don't give Gaara hand jobs?" Kameko asked.

Kami blushed. "What?!...why would you ask something like that?!"

Kameko just pranced ahead of Kami towards the hospital, laughing, where he could tell Hitomi was. Miya followed him of course leaving Kami behind on her own, something Kameko would surly regret. As Kami entered the village she passed by a general store which stopped her in her tracks. Grinning evilly she entered the store and bought something…

"Oh Kameko." Kami said entering Hitomi's hospital room where she suspected Kameko was.

"What the hell do you want now?" Kameko asked turning to see Kami peeking into the room.

"Come outside and see." Kami said.

Kameko sighed and walked outside the room, Miya following right behind him. Kami had a bag by her side and quietly closed the door once the dogs exited the room, giving Shikamaru and Hitomi some privacy.

"I bought something for you Kameko." Kami said.

Kameko gasped. "Did you finally buy me a steak?!"

"Something just as good." Kami said smiling. "Close your eyes."

Kameko closed his eye praying that it was going to be a nice big chunk of juicy meat when he felt something slip over his head. Quickly he opened his eyes as Kami slipped each of his front paws into some type of outfit. Kameko snapped at Kami as she fixed the skirt on the pink princess dress she had just put Kameko in. Miya licked Kameko's face just as Kami placed the finishing touch on top, a princess crown.

"Kaminari!" Kameko yelled biting at his new clothes and whining.

"Oh you're so adorable! I love it!" Miya said.

"I really believe I like this girlfriend of yours. Bring her around more often Kameko." Kami said opening the door to Hitomi's room. "Hey Hitomi, check this out."

Hitomi just moaned as she looked at the door to see Kameko standing there in a pink dress. "That dress really compliments your fur…" Hitomi said quietly and chuckled.

"I'll be going now." Kameko said disappearing in a cloud of smoke along with Miya.

"That's right, guess who's boss." Kami said walking into the hospital room and sitting down by Hitomi's bed.

Now that Kami was looking at Hitomi she realized just how bad condition Hitomi was in. There were second degree burns covering nearly all of her body and some patches of third degree burn. Kami mood dropped as she looked over at Shikamaru's face. Shikamaru hadn't left Hitomi's side since he brought her here, but his presence wasn't making her recover any faster.

"What's the word?" Kami asked.

"They said it's likely she'll recover just fine, but there is that chance that something could go wrong…burns can be unpredictable and she's in a lot of pain." Shikamaru explained.

"Sounds…terrible…" Kami said lowering her head and wishing she had been able to rewind time farther.

"I'll be alright." Hitomi said. "Did you do it?"

"Yeah…she's been taken care of." Kami answered.

"I knew you could do it. I knew you would find a way around that jutsu of hers." Hitomi said trying to smile. "After all this time…we've finally come to an end on the journey for your past huh?"

Kami smiled. "Well…there's one more thing I've got to take care of."

"What's that?" Hitomi asked.

"I've just got one more person whose life needs changing." Kami explained "Kakashi sensei."


End file.
